Milak border crossing, the country’s main trade gateway with Afghanistan, reopened on August 11, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s spokesman.
“With the reopening of Milak border crossing, all three of Iran's official borders with Afghanistan are open and the process of exporting Iranian goods by Afghan traders and shipping companies to this country is underway,” Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration’s Telegram Channel, Gomrok News.
Milak border located in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province was closed from August 6 for security reasons due to the Taliban offensive in Afghanistan.
“Conditions are safe now and the border reopened a few minutes ago,” he said in the early hours of Wednesday.
Milak is one of the strategic junctions that connects landlocked Afghanistan to international waters through Iran.
Due to political turmoil caused by Taliban’s advance to Afghanistan’s Nimruz Province that neighbors Hirmand County in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province, the border crossing known as Zaranj on the Afghan side had been temporarily closed down.
Subsequently, Ayyoub Kord, director general of Sistan-Baluchestan Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, notified his counterparts in all Iranian provinces, as well as transportation and commercial officials, that no exports or transit via trucks are going to be carried out through Milak until further notice, Mehr News Agency reported.
Kord noted that Sistan-Baluchestan’s Traffic Police will prevent the commute of Iranian trucks to Afghanistan through this southeastern border crossing.
Latifi also said trade via Milak customs office and Gamshad border market are banned until further notice, Iribnews.ir reported.
In July, trade via two other checkpoints between Iran and Afghanistan, namely Sheikh Abu Nasr Farahi Customs (known as Mahiroud on the Iranian side) and Islam Qala border crossing (Dogharoun), halted after Taliban seized control.
Latifi said on Saturday Mahiroud and Dogharoun border crossings have reopened and are currently active.
“Although Dogharoun has been operating for about a month now, trade via this checkpoint has seen a 50% decline YOY since it reopened. This is while trade through Mahiroud experienced a 50% increase compared with the similar period of last year, but long queues of trucks have formed at the Iranian side of the border,” the official was quoted as saying by ILNA.
“What concerns us is that the future prospects of trade between Iran and Afghanistan are not predictable if Taliban’s control over the country continues,” says Hossein Salimi, chairman of Iran-Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce.
Exports to Afghanistan stood at 1.8 million tons worth $728 million in the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 21-July 22), registering a 15% decline in terms of weight and 2% growth in terms of value compared with the corresponding period of last year, according to the IRICA spokesperson.
Iron and steel rods, as well as agricultural and food products, are among the main products exported from Iran to the neighboring country.
“Afghanistan was Iran's fourth largest export destination among neighboring countries and fifth among world countries in the fiscal 2020-21 [ended March 20],” Iran’s former commercial attaché to Afghanistan, Mohammad Mehdi Javanmard-Qassab, has been quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
