MUMBAI, March 3 — About 400,000 metric tons of Indian basmati rice are backed up at ports and in transit, and export deals have dried up as freight rates have more than doubled since the US and Israel attacked Iran at the weekend, trade officials said.

India is the world’s largest exporter of aromatic, premium basmati rice, with buyers in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, accounting for more than half of its shipments.