Page 48 - IRANRptDec21

Uzbekistan ‘committed to sending trade through Iran’s Indian Ocean port Chabahar’
Iran working to launch Caspian Sea shipping lines to Russia and Kazakhstan
hold talks on required new train stations and problems in rolling out the railroad project. Ammar also referred to negotiations taking place with a company to work on the fourth phase of the railroad which is to link Khaf in Iran with Herat.
The third phase involves connecting the Rozanak train station in Afghanistan’s Ghoryan district to an industrial complex in Herat.
Separately, The Hindustan Times on November 24 reported that Pakistan has exceptionally given the nod to India to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistani territory.
The UN in the past week has stepped up warnings that Afghanistan, under Taliban rule since the completion of the exit of the US and its allies from the country in August, is in danger of suffering an economic and humanitarian catastrophe if it does not receive far more external support.
Uzbekistan is committed to solving access and other issues that stand in the way of the landlocked country conducting import and export trade via Iran’s Chabahar port, Iran Chamber reported on October 27.
The Iranians and the Indian state are jointly developing Chabahar, Iran’s sole oceanic port, which offers direct access to the Indian Ocean. Trade flows running out of and into Uzbekistan via Iranian territory can take a route via Turkmenistan. The Pakistanis and China are developing a rival port to Chabahar, Gwadar on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast. However, to use Gwadar as an export-import hub, Uzbekistan would have to rely on trade flows crossing Afghanistan. Given the added turmoil that could potentially beset Afghanistan as the country adjusts to its second Taliban regime, the Uzbeks as things stand will be wary of betting on Gwadar as a preferred option to Gwadar for trade access to the ocean.
Chabahar is a key feature of the emerging International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
Uzbekistan plans to hold a second trilateral meeting with Iran and India to discuss joint use of Chabahar port on Iran's Makran coast on the Gulf of Oman, according to Uzbek deputy minister for foreign affairs Furkat Sidikov. Given the potential importance that Chabahar could also have for the economic development of Afghanistan, the former US Trump administration refrained from placing sanctions on its development.
Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) for cooperation in launching shipping lines from northern ports on the Caspian Sea coasts to Russia and Kazakhstan, the Tehran Times has reported.
Based on the MoU, in the first phase six lines would be launched from northern ports of Iran to Astrakhan and Makhachkala in Russia and Aktau in Kazakhstan as of October 23, the TPO website was reported as saying reported. In the second phase, by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (late March 2022) the number of lines would increase to eight.
Khazar Shipping Company will reportedly transport export goods on a regular and monthly basis on behalf of IRISL.
Regional trade has gained in importance for Iran since the US re-introduced heavy sanctions against Tehran in 2018, throwing massive obstacles in the way of trade with the West in particular.
The newspaper report also referred to planning under way to establish regular shipping lines to the Persian Gulf countries as well as African countries.
48 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com