Iran’s exports to Afghanistan through Dogharoun gateway in northeastern Iranian border with the country surged by 260% during the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Aug. 22), a local official says.
Ahmad Nazem said that a total of 619,199 tons of goods were exported through Dogharoun border crossing to Afghanistan via 22,364 trucks during the five-month period.
“Iran’s main exported goods to the neighboring country through the border crossing were construction materials, reinforcement bars, gasoline and liquefied gas,” he was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that over the same period, 2,174 tons of products were imported through this eastern checkpoint via 88 trucks, registering a 70% surge in volume YOY.
“Around 11,081 trucks transited close to 243,100 tons of commodities through Dogharoun over the period under review,” he added.
Dogharoun border crossing (known as Islam Qala on the Afghan side) is located in Khorasan Razavi’s Taybad County.
According to Nezam, the checkpoint is one of Iran’s top five trade terminals, located 120 kilometers west of Herat, for entering one of Afghanistan’s main consumer markets.
“Dogharoun is also considered a main passenger terminal between Iran and Afghanistan, through which more than one million commutes took place per year before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Truck commutes between Iran and the neighboring Afghanistan, which had declined lately in the wake of the Taliban takeover in the neighboring country and resulted in a 15% fall in bilateral trade, has almost bounced back to normal levels now, says the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
“Based on our latest figures, pertaining to Aug. 21, around 1,300 trucks travel across the common border daily. More than 500 trucks commute through Mahiroud [known as Sheikh Abu Nasr Farahi on the Afghan side], 600 through Dogharoun and 185 via Milak [Zaranj],” Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by Iribnews.ir recently.
Behrouz Aqaei, director general of the southeastern province’s Ports and Maritime Organization, says after a 10-day hiatus, Milak border in Sistan-Baluchestan Province’s Hirmand County bordering Afghanistan reopened for commerce on Aug. 15.
“At present, between 100 and 200 trucks travel through this border crossing carrying goods from Chabahar Port to the neighboring country every day. Milak border crossing, which closed down due to the recent political turmoil in Afghanistan on Aug. 5, was reopened to passengers on Aug. 9,” Aqaei was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
According to Mohammad Mehdi Javanmard-Qassab, a former Iranian commercial attache to Afghanistan, the Taliban have lowered import tariffs to one-eighth, meaning merchants and businesspeople can go through clearance procedures much faster and more easily.
“The Taliban have announced their willingness to expand trade with their neighboring countries, Iran in particular, so there doesn’t seem to be any problem facing Iranian exporters and businesses in Afghanistan. Yet, we have to wait and see how our eastern neighbor’s trade policies will evolve under a future government,” he said.