Iranian Export Growth Sparks Global Interest
Chabahar Port, exempt from U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s shipping industries, has reported high levels of export growth. (Wikimedia Commons)
The Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran has launched a large-scale private investment campaign for Chabahar Port, according to Port Technology News. The port, which sustains commerce for both Iran and its landlocked neighbors, has attracted global interest in light of recent export growth.
On September 30, the Tehran Times reported a 100 percent increase in Chabahar Port’s exports over the past six months, marking Iran’s shift from a heavy regional importer to a key stakeholder in the global export market. At Afghanistan’s request, the U.S. has also exempted Chabahar Port from sanctions that target Iran’s shipping and shipbuilding industries. The U.S. Department of State made this decision on grounds that the port sustains Afghanistan’s postwar reconstruction.
Behrouz Aghaei, director general of the PMO, believes that in addition to the appeal of export growth, Chabahar Port’s immunity from U.S. sanctions will lower shipping vessel insurance costs. As a key shipping hub for cement, minerals, and construction stones, the port is a nucleus for global infrastructure development. Regional actors thus continue to monitor its vitality.
Two days prior to the Tehran Times’ report, a delegation of Japanese corporate executives and representatives from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) inspected Chabahar Port’s fisheries. Department General for Fishing Affairs Mohammadrez Daemi spoke highly of the cohort’s visit to reporters at Mehr News. “The Japanese delegation visited and inspected Chabahar port in a bid to promote [the fishing] industry in the port with a special emphasis placed on training long-line fishing and method of processing operations,” Daemi affirmed.
On September 27, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani informally discussed a working trade agreement at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. An Economic Times report contextualized the two leaders’ off-the-record talk as a follow-up on Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to Tehran, during which both sides discussed bilateral cooperation and potential trade agreements. According to the Economic Times, the Chabahar Port forms the centerpiece of these plans. India is the third-largest global oil consumer and has broken diplomatic barriers with Iran in recent years. Since 2016, the two nations have signed over three dozen formal agreements—the newest of which came in 2018 when Rouhani became the first Iranian leader to visit India in ten years.
The Financial Tribune reports that while Rouhani attended the UN General Assembly meeting, PMO directors remained in Tehran to meet with Paolo Malaguti, secretary-general of Italy’s Venice Maritime Cluster. “After conducting research and studies, the high potential of Chabahar Port and Chabahar Free Trade Zone caught our attention … We hope that Venice Maritime Cluster can be a bridge connecting Italy and Iran. The dry and mechanized port of Padua, 40 kilometers from Venice, is connected to all parts of Europe and has provided excellent facilities for cargo transportation from the port of Venice to elsewhere in the continent,” Malaguti explained.
As Iran engages diverse trade partners in Europe and the Middle East, it will have to contend with the renewed U.S. pressure on Tehran. However, interested parties might consider Chabahar Port a loophole if Washington does not reverse the port’s exemption from sanctions. The United States has yet to comment on Japan, India, or Italy’s engagement with Iranian officials regarding Chabahar Port, so for the time being, foreign investors have unimpeded access to one of the Middle East’s busiest shipping hubs.