The Hindu on Friday conveyed recent remarks from Hassan Nourian – Iran’s Consul General in Hyderabad – urging Indians to shrug off American pressure aimed at limiting trade with the Islamic republic:
Pointing out that India was a big economy which has twice the landmass of Iran and 15 times Iran’s population, he said that if the US could not do anything to Iran, what would Indians have to fear the US for.
Nourian, whose office is in-charge of the southern states of India, said this at a meeting organised by the Madras Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) here on Friday, while responding to a point that India Inc was still hesitant to trade with Iran, mainly out of fear of getting on the wrong side of the US.
Iran has been aggressively seeking to leverage eroding U.S. sanctions, which were weakened under the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPA), and to specifically bolster its energy trade.
The moves were not unexpected. Foreign policy and energy analyst Aaron Menenberg had already back in January outlined scenarios under which the ability to limit development of Iranian energy infrastructure and exports would become a critical test of whether sanctions remaining in the aftermath of the JPA could hold.
Iran’s Fars News Agency reported Friday that Iran and Kuwait are moving forward on an arrangement that would see the two co-developing offshore energy resources:
Iran and Kuwait have sought to expand bilateral ties through exchanging several high-ranking delegations in the last few years.
On Sunday, the two countries signed six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in different fields to pave the ground for the further expansion of their friendly relations and cooperation.
Iran and Kuwait also agreed to invest jointly in construction of a large steel mill in Iran’s soil.
The various developments emerged amid what appear to be renewed moves by lawmakers to reassert a congressional voice in diplomacy toward Iran, months after the administration had successfully fought and blocked legislation that would have locked in future pressure on the Islamic republic in the event that negotiations failed.
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