India's Ministry of External Affairs engaged Tehran at high level on 23 April after the Epaminondas was seized carrying cargo bound for Mundra port in Gujarat1. The engagement routed through the same ministry that has now held public silence for eight days on the 15 April OFAC designations of the Shamkhani network, which named Chetan Prakash Balhotra, Navi Mumbai-registered Fleet Tanqo Private Limited and other Indian firms.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri demarched Iran's ambassador Fathali on 18 April after the IRGC fired on the Indian tankers Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav. Three Iran tracks now converge on Misri's office inside a week: tanker firings producing a demarche, OFAC sanctions producing silence and the Epaminondas producing quiet diplomacy.
Delhi cannot publicly demand the corps stop firing on Indian-bound vessels while staying silent on Treasury sanctions targeting Indian firms that help Iran evade the same sanctions those vessels operate inside. India is the largest non-Chinese user of Iranian-routed crude, so every week the MEA holds the line leaves Mumbai and Chennai operators unable to price their next cargo. Misri's office has chosen the shipping file over the sanctions file because Indian crews are at sea and Indian firms are on paper.
