The US has warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran hours after India signed a 10-year contract with Iran to operate the Chabahar port.

In a press briefing early this week, the country’s State Department Deputy Spokesperson when asked about the deal said that: “the US sanctions on Iran are still in place and that Washington would continue to enforce them.

Any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran - they need to be aware of the potential risks that they are opening themselves up to the potential risk of sanctions.“

India did not take long to respond. Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said, “I did see some of the remarks which were made, but I think it’s a question of communicating, convincing and getting people to understand, that this is actually for everyone’s benefit.

I don’t think people should take a narrow view of it.“ He added: “They (US) have not done so in the past. So, if you look at the US’ own attitude towards the port in Chabahar, the US has been appreciative of the fact that Chabahar has a larger relevance…we will work at it”.

Jaishankar further said that India had a long association with the project, but was not able to sign a long-term pact. He added that New Delhi was able to sort out the issues and sign the long-term agreement, which will benefit the entire region.

The Chabahar Port is an India-Iran flagship project that serves as an important transit port for trade with........

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