Navigating “maximum pressure”: the India-Iran-US relationship under the Trump presidency

ABSTRACT The article highlights the convergence and divergence between US and India regarding Iran during the Trump administration and makes the following arguments. First, as Trump’s hard line on Iran was viewed negatively by India, New Delhi took measures to assert its longheld tradition of “strategic autonomy” in foreign policy which could not be ignored by the U.S. establishment despite Trump’s personal choices. Second, as Iran responded to the Trump’s hardening policies by gravitating toward China, the Trump administration became slightly more sensitive toward the complexities of IranChina bonhomie for Indian diplomacy. Third, although India was forced to cut back on importing Iranian oil due to sanctions in mid-2019, American officials began to view India-Iran-Afghanistan collaboration on the Chabahar port project as an opportunity to boost the Afghan economy, and exempted the project from sanctions. The article concludes that despite strong divergences on Iran, the Trump administration came to pursue a combination of pressure and engagement with India to reduce divergence on Iran.