Iran

Without referring to the Trump administration’s threat to cut Iranian oil imports to zero by November 4 or face sanctions, the statement said India is a sovereign nation that would choose energy partners on the basis of criteria such as “friendly relations with supplier countries, market factors, geopolitical and geo-economical considerations and potentials and reliability of oil suppliers”.

The statement acknowledged that Tehran has been pushing New Delhi to speed up work on Chabahar port and a related transit corridor to Afghanistan comprising rail and road links. “Iran has always welcomed Indian initiatives, however, due to the importance of the issue, Iran has frequently emphasised on expediting Indian investment, and pushing Indian partner companies to accelerate their engagement in execution of the projects,” it said. Referring to earlier reports that Iran could do away with special privileges if India cut its oil imports, former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, said this appeared to be “posturing”.

“I would rather not take it seriously. This is not a decision which a diplomat can take. These are very high level decisions. I do not believe any country is going to take an aggressive posture,” he told PTI in Hyderabad.

Iran is India’s third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The country supplied 18.4 mn tonnes of crude oil between April 2017 and January 2018, but latest figures showed India’s oil imports had declined by 15.9% in June, the first month after the US said it would reimpose sanctions, Reuters reported citing data from shipping and industry sources.