India Is The Only Foreign Country Participating In Major Development Project In Iran Despite US Sanctions

India has reaffirmed its commitment to Iran’s Chabahar Port as it delivered heavy equipment, including cranes, for the strategic connectivity project. It has supplied two 140-ton mobile harbor cranes via an Italian company called Italgru.

The deal was signed for a total of six cranes, people familiar with developments told Hindustan Times. In 2020, a contract with a Chinese state-run firm for similar equipment was canceled amid the border standoff, resulting in the delay of equipment delivery.
Citing delays in supplying the equipment ordered in 2017, India had canceled a $30-million contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries for heavy cranes in September 2020.
The latest delivery has been confirmed by Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, Director General of West Asia at Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Behrouz Aghaei, director-general of the ports and maritime department of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, told Tehran Times: “The first shipment of…equipment worth $8.5 million has arrived in Chabahar port to mark the activation of the contract between the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) and the Indian side.”
Aghaei said the heavy equipment will be installed at Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar port, which is operated by India. India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) had taken over the port operations in December 2018. So far, the port has handled 1.75 million tons of bulk cargo and more than 13,000 TEUs of container cargo, the reports said.