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)
TT

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.



Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
TT

Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos would serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, met repeatedly with Arab American and Muslim leaders during the election campaign, Reuters reported.

It was the second time in recent days that Trump chose the father-in-law of one of his children to serve in his administration.

On Saturday, Trump said that he had picked his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, real estate mogul Charles Kushner, to serve as US ambassador to France.

In recent months, Boulos campaigned for Trump to drum up Lebanese and Arab American support, even as the US-backed Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Boulos has powerful roots in both countries.

His father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.

His son Michael and Tiffany Trump were married in an elaborate ceremony at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago Club in November 2022, after getting engaged in the White House Rose Garden during Trump's first term.

Boulos has been in touch with interlocutors across Lebanon's multipolar political world, three sources who spoke to him in recent months say, a rare feat in Lebanon, where decades-old rivalries between factions run deep.

Boulos is a friend of Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian ally of Hezbollah and its candidate for Lebanon's presidency. He is also in touch with the Lebanese Forces Party, a vehemently anti-Hezbollah Christian faction, the sources say, and has ties to independent lawmakers.