Iran provided safe passage to Indian ships through the Strait of Hormuz: Ambassador
New Delhi says two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bound for ports in the country’s west have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in Iran, Al Jazeera reports.
“They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India,” Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi on Saturday.
The war has prompted a critical shortage of cooking gas in India, a country with longstanding ties to Iran.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said Tehran had allowed some Indian vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies.
Fathali, speaking at a conclave organised by the India Today media group in New Delhi, did not confirm the number of vessels that have been provided safe passage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he had spoken to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed the transit of goods and energy from the Gulf.
Last week, the Indian government invoked emergency powers and directed refiners to maximise production of LPG to prevent a shortage of the cooking fuel. It cut sales to industry to avoid a shortage for its 333 million homes with LPG connections.
