And with a second round of US sanctions all set to take effect from November 4 — under which President Trump expects India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to ‘zero’ — Iran finds itself in desperate need for diplomatic partners to sympathise with its growing financial woes. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s recent visit to Pakistan came in the same context. But it only happened after India — in a US-centric repositioning — shied away from fulfilling its investment pledges with Iran, including those for the expansion of Chabahar port. However, Pakistan did respond to Iran’s pleasure, with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi saying the country stands by its next-door neighbour. More important, though, for Iran from a business point of view are the European parties to the nuclear deal. Iran needs to strengthen its diplomatic channels with these European countries, a few of which are already plotting their ways to bypass the US sanctions.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2018.
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