New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The United States, in a “decisive defensive action” through airstrikes, killed Iran’s head of elite Quds Force General Qassim Soleimani and seven others. This was days after the US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for ‘orchestrating’ attack on the US embassy in Baghdad. The White House, in a statement, said that the strikes were conducted on directions from President Trump adding that Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.
After the strikes, the Brent crude futures jumped nearly USD 3 to hit a high of USd 69.16 a barrel, the highest since September 17. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee opened lower on Friday against the US dollar. Rupee opened at Rs 71.49 per dollar against the previous close of Rs 71.38.
With this, the tensions between the US and Iran have risen in the Gulf region and a possibility of a full scale conflict between the two can’t be ruled out. According to experts, a conflict between the US and Iran would not only impact the gulf region but prove catastrophic for the entire world.
Recommended For You
Relationship between Iran and the US:
The relationship between the US and Iran have been escalating since 2016. In 2018, President Trump pulled of from the Iran nuclear deal, “calling it rotten and decaying” and since then the tensions between the countries have increased. The US has also designated the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as Foreign Terrorists Organisation (FTO) which has irked Iran.
Recently, the US announced that it would stop extending sanction waiver to nations importing Iranian oil -- a move that had direct impact on India and then it also blamed Tehran for the drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline.
How the conflict will impact India?
New Delhi is heavily dependent on Iran for oil. According to a government data, India imports 84 per cent of its crude oil of which one-third portion is imported from Iran and a conflict between Washington and Tehran would hugely impact the prices of crude oil and could derail Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid to revive the economy. According to an IDSA report, Iran has been one of the top three suppliers of crude oil to India for over a decade.
A conflict between US and Iran would heavily impact the crude oil imports and would also impact the relationship between New Delhi and Tehran. India is also developing the Chabahar Port, a project whose aim is to give the country an access to Central Europe and Afghanistan by bypassing Pakistan.
Moreover, India also buys natural gas from Iran and hence the total value of energy imports from Iran is even higher, accounting for 80-85 per cent of its overall imports from Iran.
Both US and Iran are strategically important for India. While Iran is important for India for its oil consumptions, New Delhi’s relationship with Washington have significantly improved over the last few years and India can’t surely afford to lose an important ally as US.