India says US grants six-month sanction exemption on Iran port

New Delhi: India has been granted a six-month exemption on US sanctions on its strategic Chabahar port project in Iran, a key gateway to landlocked Afghanistan, New Delhi’s foreign ministry said Thursday.

New Delhi and Tehran last year signed a contract to develop and equip the long-stalled Chabahar project, giving India 10 years of access.

But Washington slapped sanctions on the project, as part of moves to squeeze Tehran over its nuclear programme, which came into effect in September.

Under US law, companies had to exit Chabahar or risk having any US-based assets frozen and US transactions barred.

India, which is locked in wider trade negotiations with Washington, said sanctions had been paused.

“I can confirm that we have been granted exemption for a six-month period on American sanctions,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the exemption came in “recent days”, meaning the pause would stretch until April 2026.

Chabahar is an alternative gateway to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan, which has long controlled transit trade into Afghanistan.

The exemption comes as Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in fragile peace talks after fighting along their volatile border in recent weeks.

The United States had begrudgingly accepted the port project while the US military was in Afghanistan, as it saw New Delhi as a valuable partner to back the Kabul government that fell in 2021.

India has since improved ties with the Taliban government.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan’s UN-sanctioned foreign minister, visited India this month, and New Delhi has since returned its mission in Kabul to a fully-fledged embassy.