The ships arrived the same day the siege began.
Two sanctioned supertankers carrying Iranian crude dropped anchor off Indian ports on April 13 — the first Iranian oil to reach India in nearly seven years. Hours earlier, US Central Command announced a blockade on every ship entering or leaving Iranian ports. The oil India just received came through a door that’s now slamming shut.
The Waiver That Created a Race
These purchases were legal — barely. The US temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil in March to ease global supply shortages. Indian refiners moved fast. Reliance Industries secured special government permission for four Iranian tankers to berth at Sikka port.
But the waiver came from the same administration that just ordered the blockade. And the blockade came hours after 21-hour peace talks in Islamabad collapsed. The US wanted a 20-year suspension of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran said it didn’t expect a deal at the first meeting. Pakistan mediated. Neither side budged. Trump’s response: seal Iran’s ports.
That leaves India holding oil purchased with American permission from a country America is now blockading.
What Monday Morning Looked Like
Sensex crashed 1,600 points at open. Brent crude surged 7% to $103.47 a barrel. The rupee had its steepest fall in two weeks. India imports 85% of its crude — oil above $100 means higher petrol, diesel, and LPG prices within weeks.
Iran’s Ambassador Mohammad Fathali said Tehran has “good contact” with Delhi on ship passage through Hormuz, denied Indian tankers paid tolls, and offered navigation support — gratitude, he said, for India’s neutrality. But gratitude doesn’t set foreign policy. Waivers do.
The ceasefire expires April 22. Eight days. If it lapses, Hormuz could close again. India just accepted Iranian oil with American permission, Iranian diplomatic cover, and zero guarantee either survives the week. The tankers are anchored. The blockade is active. And India’s energy security depends on a waiver from the country running the siege.