Khaf-Herat Railway Delivers 1st Iran's Diesel Shipment to Afghanistan

Iran exported its first diesel shipment to Afghanistan via the Khaf-Herat railway on Sunday night, marking a new phase in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, a senior official from the Iran-Afghanistan Railway Development Consortium said on Monday.

“The first shipment of diesel fuel, weighing 1,120 tons in 20 wagons, was dispatched through the rail border at Shamtigh,” Mostafa Rezaei, CEO of the Iran-Afghanistan Railway Development Consortium, told IRNA.

“With the arrival of the first cargo train at Rozanak station in Herat Province, a new chapter of economic and commercial cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan has begun.” Rezaei added that, in the initial phase, the consortium is prepared to send over 30,000 tons of high-quality fuel monthly via the Khaf-Rozanak rail line. “Transporting these shipments without relying on road routes and without border stops is an effective step to facilitate logistics and reduce trade costs,” he said. He described the Khaf-Herat railway as a secure, sustainable, and efficient corridor for fuel exports.

“This diesel export will not only boost bilateral trade but also pave the way for stable fuel and essential goods supply in Afghanistan, positively impacting Herat’s energy market and stabilizing petroleum prices,” he said.

According to IRNA, last year, 60,000 tons of export and transit goods were transported from Iran to Afghanistan via the Khaf-Herat railway and the Shamtigh border crossing.

The Khaf-Herat rail link, connecting Iran’s rail network to western Afghanistan, plays a key role in regional connectivity and forms part of an east-west rail corridor stretching over 2,000 kilometers from China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan through Iran and Turkey to Europe. The Shamtigh customs and rail border crossing in southeastern Khorasan Razavi Province was inaugurated in 2020. - Iran Daily