Iran, India agree to speed up Chabahar port project

Tehran and Delhi have agreed to accelerate the development of an important Iranian port, India’s foreign minister said during a visit to the sanctions-hit Islamic republic yesterday. Chabahar port -- being jointly developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan -- is on the Indian Ocean about 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of the Pakistan border. But development has stalled, despite waivers to sanctions that the United States began reimposing last year after withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. “Just concluded a very productive #IndiaIran Joint Commission Meeting,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday in a joint news conference with Jaishankar that the project would boost trade in the region.