▲ Iranian flag (File photo)
Iran's detour strategy to expand overland trade to evade U.S. maritime blockades is facing major setbacks due to border congestion, administrative hurdles, and logistics issues, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on September 16 (local time).
According to the WSJ, hundreds to thousands of Iranian freight trucks have been stranded for extended periods at border areas between Iran and Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.
Agricultural products such as apricots loaded on the trucks are rotting amid customs clearance delays, while major exports including iron ore, cement, and liquefied gas are halted at entry points along the Pakistan and Afghanistan borders.
Data from the Iranian International Transport Association shows that 3,700 trucks are stranded on the Iranian side of the border heading to Türkiye, with wait times reaching up to 20 days.
At a major checkpoint leading to Pakistan, about 700 trucks carrying liquefied gas and cement wait constantly, but only 40 trucks are actually permitted to cross the border, local civic groups reported.
Ehsan Malekzadeh, head of the Iranian International Transport Association, said customs officials at land borders across Iran are struggling to handle the increased cargo volume.
In particular, Iranian truck drivers are suffering from mounting administrative barriers and financial burdens, and they point out that a significant portion of the problems stems from their own government.
In a video released last weekend, a truck driver said, "Iran is not taking responsibility for this situation, and Pakistan is not even allowing us to unload our cargo."
As exports through sea routes have plummeted due to U.S. sanctions and U.S. military strikes on Iranian oil tankers, Iran has been increasing alternative routes such as the Caspian Sea shipping lane and railways to China, but these pathways also suffer from severe shortages in capacity and infrastructure.
Furthermore, Iran is exposing the vulnerabilities of its overland detour strategy as variables involving neighboring countries overlap.
Neighboring Iraq temporarily closed a cargo terminal near the Iranian border last weekend, claiming that Iran used Iraqi territory to attack Saudi Arabia.
Consequently, trucks transporting onions toward Iraq had to turn back on September 13.
Related costs are also surging amid the logistics crisis.
Majidreza Hariri, head of the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, previously projected that U.S. maritime blockades would force Iran to bear an additional 18 billion dollars (approximately 24.9 trillion won) in annual costs.
He also told Iranian media that shipping a single container from China to Iran costs 3,000 dollars by sea, compared to 12,000 dollars by land.
Such surging logistics costs are directly passed on to Iranian consumer prices, further worsening inflation.
According to Iranian authorities, Iran's food inflation rate soared to 128 percent in August.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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