Iran and India Agree on Long-Term Cooperation

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran and India Agree on Long-Term Cooperation

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the visiting Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hold talks in Tehran on Tuesday. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran and India signed on Monday a 10-year contract to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar, located at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman.

The contract is a further step to strengthen ties between both countries. It came as Washington has warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, who is visiting Tehran to sign the new contract.

Abdollahian emphasized that Tehran views its relationship with India as strategic, stressing that it was keen on reaching long-term cooperation with New Delhi, reported Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

“Our approach to relations with India is strategic and we are ready to further expand our cooperation with India in bilateral and multilateral capacities and within the framework of BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Abdollahian also termed the recent agreement between the two states as a very important opportunity to expand the volume of trade relations, according to IRNA.

India has been developing the port in Chabahar as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the port of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

US sanctions on Iran, however, slowed the port's development.

“Chabahar Port's significance transcends its role as a mere conduit between India and Iran; it serves as a vital trade artery connecting India with Afghanistan and Central Asian Countries,” Sonowal said after the signing of the agreement.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, asked about the deal, told reporters that US sanctions on Iran remain in place and warned that Washington will continue to enforce them.

“Any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran - they need to be aware of the potential risks that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions,” Patel said.

The long-term deal was signed between Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organization of Iran.

Under the agreement, IPGL will invest about $120 million while there will be an additional $250 million in financing, bringing the contract's value to $370 million, said Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash.



Ukraine, US in 'Final Stages' of Agreeing Minerals Deal, Kyiv Says 

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Ukraine, US in 'Final Stages' of Agreeing Minerals Deal, Kyiv Says 

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 24, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with the Western nations' leaders in Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Ukraine and the United States are in the final stages of negotiating a minerals deal considered central to ending Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday.

Kyiv and Washington are both interested in US access to Ukraine's undersoil riches, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said any such deal must involve concrete security guarantees.

"Ukrainian and US teams are in the final stages of negotiations regarding the minerals agreement. The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized," deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna wrote on X.

"We hope both US and UA leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington (at) the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come."

Trump has said Ukraine should give the US $500 billion in critical raw materials as payback for aid which Kyiv has already received from the previous Joe Biden administration.

Zelenskiy said this week Washington had supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in direct budget support, and that he will not acknowledge Biden-supplied aid as loan.

Zelenskiy refused to sign an initial draft deal earlier this month, sparking frustration in the White House. Senior Trump administration officials said on Sunday they expected an agreement would be signed this week.