Did US take U-turn on exemptions related to India-Iran Chabahar port deal? Can sanctions be imposed? All you should know

livemint.com:

will give a boost to regional connectivity and India's linkages with Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia," the Ministry of External Affairs said on May 13. According to Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the deal will give India 10-year access to use the port, located close to Iran's southeastern border with Pakistan.

The contract will, in turn, see India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) invest $370 million into "providing strategic equipment" and “developing the transport infrastructure of the port", news agency AFP reported. Following the India-Iran Chabahar Port deal, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US was aware of reports that Iran and India have signed a deal to operate the Chabahar port.

Patel said, "I will let the Government of India speak to its own foreign policy goals vis-à-vis the Chabahar port as well as its own bilateral relationship with Iran. I will just say, as it relates to the United States, US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we’ll continue to enforce them." On whether that includes sanctions against "Indian firms, potentially", the US official said, “You’ve heard us say this in a number of instances, that any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran, they need to be aware of the potential risk that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions." "So there’s not an exemption for this specifically?" Patel answered this question in the negative.

In November 2018, the US had exempted India from certain sanctions for developing of the Chabahar port and the construction of a railway line connecting it with Afghanistan. The US State Department’s 2018 policy had granted a waiver specifically for the Chabahar port.