The India-Iran port deal was not exempted from the sanctions, the United States administration has said as Delhi signed a 10-year contract with Iran to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar.

“I will just say, as it relates to the United States, US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we’ll continue to enforce them,” Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson, said at the weekly press briefing on Monday.

India has been developing part of the port in Chabahar on Iran’s southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the port of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

Patel admitted that the country was aware of such reports that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar port.

When asked, he said that any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran, they need to be aware of the potential risk that they are opening themselves up to and the potential risk of sanctions.