India has denied reports of its exit from the Chabahar port in Iran following the US sanctions. Speculations were rife regarding India’s pullout from Chabahar port following reports that the country may be forced to withdraw due to US sanctions.
However, the Ministry of External Affairs of India denied the reports in a statement to Indian media today, saying India has not decided to exit Chabahar. The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, told reporters that India continues to engage with the US seeking an extension of the six-month sanction waiver which is currently set to expire on April 26, 2026.
“On the question of Chabahar, on October 28, 2025, as you are aware, the US Department of Treasury had issued a letter outlining the guidance on the conditional sanctions waiver, which is valid till April 26, 2026. We remain engaged with the US side in working out this arrangement,” Jaiswal said during the weekly media briefing.
The waiver allowed by the US helps India to continue operating the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar through India Ports Global Limited.
Read more: India weighs future of Iranian port investment amid US sanctions
Last September, the U.S. had imposed strict economic sanctions on Iran. However, it allowed India a temporary six-months waiver for its involvement in the Chabahar port project. The exemption is set to expire on April 26th. Sources claimed that an additional six-month extension until April 2026 had been offered as a special case to facilitate an orderly exit.
However, India clarifies that such an arrangement is not acceptable to them. Chabahar port is the only viable western corridor for New Delhi. One of the biggest reasons Chabahar gives India direct maritime access to Afghanistan and Central Asia without accessing Pakistan, whose land routes are largely closed to Indian trade.
Chabahar sits on Iran’s southeastern coast and offers a seaborne route that bypasses geopolitical barriers to India’s westwards connectivity. Chabahar allows India to integrate with wider regional economies. Chabahar is planned as the international north-south transport corridor, a multinational, a multimodal transport system linking India with Iran, Russia and Europe.
By using sea, rail and road links, this corridor can reduce the transit times and logistics cost compared to traditional sea routes that go through the Suez Canal.
