The role of Chabahar port in Iran’s energy trade

According to Energy Press, Mirqasem Momeni said about the role of Chabahar port in energy trade: Chabahar port can be a route for goods and energy trade to many countries in the world due to its location, many countries want to transit through Chabahar port. and connect their goods to the north-south rail line from this route. Actually, this route is the same route as the Silk Road.
He added: We see that China, India, and Pakistan welcome this route, but sanctions are an obstacle to investing in this region. Indians aim to connect to the North-South rail channel and the possibility of being in the Caucasus and Eurasia through Chabahar port. They have invested a lot in this field and signed contracts with Iran, but they have not yet completed and have not fulfilled their obligations sufficiently.
This energy expert said: The conflicts in the Caucasus and the war that took place between Azerbaijan and Armenia caused the Indians to delay this project to some extent, because Pakistan supported Azerbaijan in the war to block India’s way in the Caucasus, and from this So Indians also supported Armenia to have this country for itself and maintain its connection with the North Caucasus.
He stressed: In any case, it seems that any pipeline and energy transit that passes through our country is very beneficial for us, we can receive transit rights and we can use it to export our own products. In this situation, we can use Chabahar port as a center for exporting goods like Jebel Ali in the UAE, which is a vast area for transit and warehouse of goods and transportation of ships. In addition, the potential of Chabahar is more than Jabal Ali and other ports of the UAE and Oman, but unfortunately it has not been properly invested and politicized and its full capacities are not used, so that currently we use only 5% of the capacity of this port and up to 100% of the capacity. We have a long time, in order to realize this, we must attract the private sector and foreign investors.
Momeni stated: It is clear that India needs part of its energy in addition to the UAE and Qatar; It supplies from Iran because it has high consumption and needs many resources, and considering the geographical location of Iran, our country plays an important role in meeting the needs of this country, including energy, and it can be a bridge for India to reach Eurasia, and this is a good opportunity for Iran as well. which can attract and use capital from India.
He said: How much we have been able to use this opportunity, i.e. India’s need for the Iran route, is a political-economic-security issue. Pakistan is also very attractive and they can use this route, but because we have political issues and sanctions, many countries do not invest.
Momeni pointed out: China is one of the major exporters of goods and is looking for ways to export its goods with the lowest cost and time because an important part of the cost of goods is transit and transportation, and problems arise due to the high cost of fuel and long routes. If China, Caucasus countries and Russia can export their goods from Chabahar port, it will be a useful route for them.
He also said: Afghanistan also does not have a water route to the open seas, the government of this country has concluded an agreement and visited this port so that they can have an economic base in Chabahar and get the necessary goods through the port of Chabahar-Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan or to transit directly from Iran and this is an opportunity for Afghanistan to invest, the current authorities of this country have also expressed their desire and negotiations have been held in this regard.