

Chabahar, crude and chaos: The broader impact of the US‑Iran tensions on India
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US President Donald Trump has announced fresh tariff threats, this time targeting any country doing business with Iran with a 25% tariff. For India, the immediate trade risk is limited, given its minimal imports from Iran.
However, its strategic investments in the Chabahar port could face pressure, and broader regional destabilization, driven by political unrest in Iran and potential US intervention, poses a larger challenge. India and Iran have historically shared close trade and cultural ties, but the relationship has often been constrained by US sanctions. When the Trump administration reinstated sanctions in 2018, enforcing a “zero-oil" policy, India sharply reduced its imports from Iran.
As a result, imports plummeted from $13.5 billion in FY19 to just $440 million by FY25, with oil imports falling from $12.3 billion to $70 million. Experts note that India could likely eliminate the remaining imports without serious economic impact. On the export side, India sends around $1.2 billion in goods to Iran, accounting for only 0.3% of total shipments.
A significant portion of this is rice, which analysts believe could be curtailed to avoid the additional 25% tariff, layered atop the existing 50% tariff. The bigger concern lies in India’s investment in Iran’s Chabahar port—a long-term strategic project designed to bypass Pakistan and access Afghanistan and West Asia. The project has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire of US-Iran tensions.
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