> Again, this is a country that could have gotten a sweetheart deal from Iran

India has a deal with Iran as well and the first ship to sail via Hormuz after the conflict started (the Shenlong Suezmax) ended up in India [0]

India giving sanctuary to an Iranian naval ship and offering sanctuary to a second one - which their captain rejected and is now at the bottom of the Indian Ocean (IRIS Dena) [1] - bought India the goodwill needed to implement the deal mentioned above.

Edit: can't reply

> We could have an entire Indian-owned port, outside the straits in question, with an attached O&G pipeline that we paid for, connected directly to the oil and gas fields in Iran

Duqm Port in Oman, Sohar Port in Oman, Fujairah Port in the UAE, and Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar, Iran are all either Indian operated or include an Indian financial stake with first right of refusal for Oil and LNG exports and outside the Straits of Hormuz.

> Yay, we got one ship to cross the straits

Did you even read the Bloomberg article? There were only 20 Indian LNG ships within the strait of Hormuz at this time, and they are being given passage. These aren't overnight tankers (that isn't even a thing at this size). The war only started a week ago and it's a Suez Supermax at that - they won't go beyond 15 mph/19 knots.

> the rare earth minerals in Afghanistan that we had received sanction to mine prior to the war, that would also have been shipped through this port

India still has access to Shahid Beheshti Port, and it's not like India has even completely taken advantage of the existing critical minerals within India, let alone hypothetical and high risk critical minerals projects in Afghanistan - a country literally in the middle of a war with Pakistan.

[0] - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-12/india-in-...

[1] - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2e4yxj0pd3o