India is granted six-month extension of US sanctions waiver in Iran
(MENAFN) India has secured a six-month extension of a US sanctions waiver allowing it to continue operations at Iran’s Chabahar Port until early next year, the Indian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.
The decision follows Washington’s earlier move to revoke the exemption as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign targeting Tehran. The withdrawal of the waiver was initially scheduled to take effect on September 29, though India successfully pushed the deadline to October 28, according to reports.
The Chabahar waiver, first introduced in 2018 under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act (IFCA), was intended to exempt the port from broader US sanctions due to its importance in supporting Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts. The port has since facilitated the shipment of essential goods such as wheat and urea to the country.
For India, maintaining access to Chabahar carries major strategic and economic value. It provides a direct route to trade with Russia and Central Asia, circumventing Pakistan. In 2024, New Delhi and Tehran signed a ten-year agreement for the continued development and management of the Shahid Beheshti Terminal, the port’s key operational hub located on the Gulf of Oman.
Chabahar also serves as a vital node in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) — a joint initiative between India, Iran, and Russia designed to offer an alternative to the Suez Canal. The Trans-Caspian Route of the corridor links Russia’s Astrakhan to Iran’s Bandar-e-Anzali, then stretches through Iran to Chabahar before connecting onward to Mumbai. Two other INSTC routes connect Iran and Russia via Azerbaijan and Central Asia.
Trade activity along the INSTC has surged in recent years, with commerce between India and Russia nearly doubling last year, according to statements from Russian Railways official Dmitry Kryukov.
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