Iran’s action against Indian vessel is shocking
Tehran is mistaken if it believes that the best way to express its displeasure over New Delhi's decision to reduce Iranian oil imports is to detain an Indian state-owned ship carrying Iraqi oil, on specious grounds. Such a misstep will only jeopardise its relations with India. It may be a show of strength for Tehran which is losing its oil markets — in India, it has been displaced by Iraq as the second biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia — but around the globe, the incident is being red-flagged as Iran making good on earlier threats to disrupt the crucial Strait of Hormuz through which much of the world's oil is shipped. On Wednesday night, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps detained MT Desh Shanti while in international waters, on the ground that it was polluting Iranian waters. The ship has been accused of deliberately dumping oil, but that does not justify Tehran’s harsh response to the incident.
This has expectedly flabbergasted New Delhi, which has consistently sought to accommodate Iranian concerns. India has resisted enormous pressure from the US and the EU in recent years to cut down on Iranian oil imports, and in the process, been threatened with sanctions itself. Even after new sanctions have made it near impossible to buy Iranian oil using US dollars, New Delhi has continued with its purchases by paying in Indian rupees. Iran now uses these rupees to buy Indian goods. Sure, this deal is beneficial to India too as it reduces the burden on our international balance of payments while creating an additional market for Indian products, but it also supports the Iranian economy. In fact, only earlier this week, New Delhi announced its plans to buy more Iranian crude, while keeping within the sanctions regime, to boost the beleaguered Iranian economy.
Against this backdrop, Iran's attempt to bully India in the Persian Gulf is shocking — even if it is driven by Tehran's growing anxiousness about the forever tightening sanctions regime. Most recently, the US House of Representatives passed a Bill limiting President Barack Obama's ability to issue waivers to countries, such as India, that continue to purchase Iranian oil, even if at reduced quantities. If endorsed by the Senate, it will effectively eliminate all Iranian oil exports. But it is precisely in situations such as these that the Iranian regime needs to work with its partners instead of seeking to antagonise them. Iran often refers to India as a ‘friend’. This is no way for Tehran to treat a friend.