Around 1,00,000 tonnes of basmati rice bound for Iran are stranded at Indian ports because of the Israel-Iran war, the All India Rice Exporters Association said on Monday.

Iran accounts for 18-20 per cent of India’s total basmati exports. The shipments are held up at Kandla and Mundra ports in Gujarat, with neither vessels nor insurance available for Iran-bound cargo due to the West Asia conflict, association president Satish Goyal said.

International conflicts are typically not covered under standard shipping insurance policies, leaving exporters unable to dispatch their consignments, he added.

The delay in shipments and uncertainty around payments could cause severe financial stress, he said, adding that basmati rice prices in the domestic market have already dropped by ₹4-5 per kg.

The association is in touch with agri-export promotion body APEDA. A meeting with Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled for June 30 to discuss the crisis, he added.

India exported around 1 million tonnes of the aromatic grain to Iran during 2024-25.