The Agreement with India for the Development of Chabahar Port Became 'Confidential'

According to the website 'Noor News', affiliated with the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, parts of the agreement between Iran and India regarding Chabahar Port have become 'confidential'. This website quoted the head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, stating: 'Parts of the new agreement with India for the development of southeastern Chabahar have been classified to prevent problems arising from U.S. sanctions.' Ali Akbar Safaei claimed that if the details of the Chabahar contract are leaked to the media, there is a possibility that India could come under U.S. pressure. Reports indicate that the partnership agreement with an Indian company for equipping and operating the container and general cargo terminals at Chabahar Port was signed on May 13, in the presence of the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development and the Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways. Under this agreement, the Indian Ports Company has gained the right to develop and control Chabahar for ten years. The Indian newspaper 'Economic Times' reported that for India, Chabahar Port is a crucial link to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the broader Eurasian region, allowing it to compete with Pakistan's Gwadar Port or China's 'Belt and Road Initiative'. However, 'Economic Times' noted that U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic have slowed the development of Chabahar Port. The United States also reacted to this agreement, with Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, stating shortly after the signing of the contract that 'all companies and individuals seeking business contracts with Iran should be aware of the potential risks they face and the potential for sanctions.' The contract has also faced negative reactions from citizens and Baloch activists. In this regard, Abdul Sattar Doustaki, director of the Balochistan Studies Center in London, reacted to the contract in an interview with 'Voice of America', stating: 'The Islamic Republic of Iran has handed over the important and strategic Chabahar Port to India through a ten-year contract that is automatically renewed every ten years, while the Baloch people have no participation in its benefits.' Doustaki emphasized that 'the Islamic Republic's contract with India shows that the Iranian government has no plans for the development and improvement of Balochistan and involving the Baloch people in such projects, but rather the Baloch people's share is poverty, marginalization, discrimination, deprivation, imprisonment, suspicious killings, executions, repression, and oppression.' According to Doustaki, despite the Islamic Republic repeatedly announcing billion-dollar revenues from Chabahar Port, no investment has been made in the region, resulting in hundreds of people losing their lives annually on the transit roads that carry these imported and exported goods. The U.S. warns India: commercial cooperation with the Islamic Republic will lead to sanctions. India signs a ten-year contract for the management of Chabahar Port. The destruction of the shelters of Baloch nomads on the outskirts of Chabahar; the IRGC claims ownership of the land. India bypasses Chabahar to join the transit route to Israel, Arab countries, and Turkey. India exports its goods to Russia via Georgia, ignoring the 'Chabahar Agreement.'