TEHRAN (Iran News) – Hossien Shahdadi, an official with the Sistan-Baluchestan Province Department of Ports and Maritime Organization, said that with more than $1.3 billion of investment, Chabahar Port is one of the most strategically-important ports of the country.

The port enjoys modern equipment for loading and unloading of goods, the official said.

There are no docking limitations for ships arriving in the ports, Shahdadi said, adding that the port offers a significant discount in a mutual manner to ships coming from Indian ports.

Exports from the southeastern port of Chabahar has increased by 381% so far in the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2020) compared with last year’s corresponding period, the head of Sistan-Baluchestan’s Ports and Maritime Organization said.

“Agricultural products, livestock and meat exports registered a growth of 100% and exports of building materials increased by 748%,” Behrouz Aqaei was also quoted as saying by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development’s news portal, without mentioning the volume or value of exports.

Noting that Chabahar accounts for 9% of Iran’s total imports of essential goods since March 20, the official said, “Imports of essential goods, including wheat, barley, corn, rice, sugar and vegetable oils, from the country’s only oceanic port jumped by 71% year-on-year. The transit of agricultural commodities, food, and machinery through Chabahar increased by 95%.”

In its budget for 2021-22 unveiled on Monday, the Indian government has set aside ₹100 crores for the development of the port against the backdrop of the Trump administration giving way to the Biden administration.

Chabahar is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. India views Chabahar as a gateway to access landlocked Central Asia and Afghanistan.

So far, the uncertainty was still high, a second Indian industry representative said, given that the US and Iran were insisting that the other take the first step to come back to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that the Trump administration pulled out of. “Let us see how things develop,” the second industry representative cited above said. “But we have started getting calls from the Iranian side, seeking contacts and appointments with our industry partners. There is interest on both sides to re-engage,” the person said.