Turkish and Iranian truck traffic across the border between the two countries has returned to normal after a longstanding dispute over transit fees kept approximately 1,200 trucks waiting at the border, said Mohammad Javad Atrchian, director general of the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.
On December 1, 2014, Iran set a new regulation that ordered national officials to seal fuel tanks of Turkish trucks on the border checkpoints to stop supplying Turkish trucks with cheap Iranian fuel.
Prior to the decision, Iran and Turkey were in disagreement over truck transit fees. Over the past years, Iran had been charging a $750 transit fee for the trucks entering the country from Turkey to compensate for cheaper fuel prices in Iran, while the Iranian trucks entered Turkey free of charge.
On October 10, disapproving the scope and manner of implementation of the regulation, Turkey introduced a border crossing fee for Iranian trucks as well to encourage the Islamic Republic to reduce the transit fee it charged Turkish trucks to enter Iran. Following countermoves on both sides, a crossing fee per truck of $1,500 was imposed for trucks of both sides, while Iran doubled the fee it charged for the remaining gas in the fuel tanks of Turkish trucks leaving Iran.
Two weeks after the regulation came into force, Atrchian said Iran offered to discontinue the implementation of the new regulation, and that it would be suspended until a comprehensive agreement was achieved on the issue.
“Right now, Turkish and Iranian trucks are on the move again and 300 to 400 trucks pass the Iran-Turkey border on a daily basis,” Atrchian announced, stressing that “no new agreements have been reached regarding the dispute over transit fees at Bazargan-Dogubeyazit border,” Eghtesad News reported.
Currently 50 Iranian and 150 Turkish trucks are waiting at the border to cross into the neighboring country. “The convoy will be able to pass through according to daily schedules,” Atrchian noted.
The price of each liter of diesel fuel in Turkey is currently $1.47 while in Iran it costs $0.18.
The two countries have so far failed to achieve a comprehensive agreement on the issue.
