India hopes to soon start full operations at a portion of Iran's port of Chabahar as the two countries are close to resolving various disputes including financing, the country's roads minister said on Tuesday. The Indian-backed Chabahar port complex on Iran's coast along the Gulf of Oman is being developed as a transportation corridor for land-locked Afghanistan.

In May 2016, India signed a deal with Iran to develop two terminals with five berths at the Shahid Beheshti area in Chabahar.

Under the agreement, India would build a 600-metre (1,969 feet) cargo terminal and a 640-metre container terminal. However, only a portion of the two berths have been finished because of deteriorating relations between the United States and Iran after the election of President Donald Trump in November 2016 that culminated with the reimpositon of economic sanctions last year.

Copyright Reuters, 2019