Taliban Administration, Iran Discuss Transit of Afghan Goods via Chabahar
The Taliban administration said officials from the administration and Iran have discussed reducing transit obstacles and facilitating Afghanistan’s exports through Iran, especially via Chabahar port, an issue it said affects shipping costs and Afghanistan’s access to markets for its exports.
According to a Ministry of Industry and Commerce statement from the Taliban administration, Nooruddin Azizi, acting minister of industry and commerce, discussed ways to make trade and the transit of Afghan goods easier in a meeting with Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, Iran’s agriculture minister and the Iranian head of the two countries’ joint economic cooperation commission.
The meeting reportedly focused on the export of Afghan carpets and rugs to Iran, removing transit restrictions on Afghan export goods, signing a quarantine document, transporting goods through Chabahar port, and providing refrigerated containers for Afghanistan’s exports.
The Taliban administration claimed the two sides also talked about easing customs inspections and reducing transport costs, and stressed the need to remove existing obstacles in trade between Afghanistan and Iran. Nooruddin Azizi also said some problems in the trade route between the two countries still remain and must be resolved.
Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh said at the meeting that Tehran has the will to expand joint cooperation with Afghanistan, especially in agriculture. He also announced Iran’s readiness for joint investment in agriculture and production.
Chabahar port in southern Iran is one of the important transit routes for transporting Afghan goods and has repeatedly been raised in trade talks between Kabul and Tehran in recent years.
