Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.20
By Elnur Baghishov, Leman Zeynalova – Trend
The reason of granting sanctions waiver for Iran’s Chabahar port is China-US, China-India and India-Pakistan rivalry, said Mohammad Ali Hasanzadeh Mohammadi, the Deputy Managing Director for Ports and Economic Affairs at Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran.
He pointed out that the US has exempted Chabahar port from sanctions, as it plays an important role in delivering humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Mehr news agency reported.
Mohammadi noted that the major part of the humanitarian aid supplied from India to Afghanistan accounted for grains and legume.
“The US doesn’t directly say that it has granted sanctions waiver for Chabahar port due to the rivalry with China or for the purpose of weakening Pakistan. However, there is a difference between what the US has said and what is behind the scenes in this regard. By granting sanctions waiver to Chabahar port, the US wants to benefit from China-India, India-Pakistan and China-US rivalry,” he believes.
The US, which has allowed India to continue importing oil from Iran, has granted a waiver from sanctions for New Delhi’s role in the Chabahar port and the construction of a railway line from the Iranian port city to the Afghan border.
The waiver would make funding India’s role in the port, which is the country’s gateway to Eurasia and key to the development of landlocked Afghanistan, less tricky.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Rastad said that sanction exemption will create opportunities to use the infrastructure of Iran’s Chabahar port and would certainly increase the opportunities for export and import.
Regardless of the cause of exemption of Chabahar port, the maritime access of this area can be helpful for improving the country's economy and create prospects of growth and development, he added.
"The Indian operator will start working in the port soon. The contracts have been set and the new equipment has been delivered at the Port,” he noted.