As US sanctions weigh in, Iran sends foreign minister to New Delhi

NEW DELHI: As Iran begins the process of separating itself from the nuclear deal in response to US sanctions, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif arrived in Delhi Monday night to explain Tehran’s point of view to the Indian leadership. He will meet foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and NSA Ajit Doval on Tuesday. While no decision is expected to be taken since India is in the midst of elections, India is expected to give the Iranian minister a close hearing.
Last week, Iran announced it would no longer limit low-enriched uranium stockpiles to 300 kg or limit heavy water stockpiles to 130 metric tonnes. Hassan Rouhani, Iranian prime minister also gave a 60-day notice to the other parties to the JCPOA (Germany, France, UK, EU, Russia, and China) to complete their promises to the oil and banking sectors that were part of the deal when it was written.
India and seven other countries who had got a sanctions waiver from the US for the past six months were refused an extension of the waiver — this meant India had to stop buying Iranian oil including closing down the rupee account that it used to pay for Iranian oil. In April, the US designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. The US also refused to allow Iran to export heavy water surpluses to Oman or swap low-enriched uranium that exceeded 300 kg for yellowcake uranium.
The economic pressure on Iran is huge, particularly as very few — if at all — countries are willing to risk secondary sanctions by the US. Certainly, India is not. What is unclear, how Iran will retaliate in the coming weeks as the pain intensifies. The risk of a military conflict is real, which would, in turn, put pressure on India's oil imports, since the Gulf is India's main supplier of energy.