Iran's share in Afghanistan’s gasoline and diesel market has reduced significantly over the last three months, the head of the Board of Directors at the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Exporters Association.
“The neighboring state is meeting its demand by purchasing fuel from other countries, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan,” Hamid Hosseini was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
Close to 2.5 million liters of gasoline are burnt in Afghanistan daily, of which less than 125,000 liters are being imported from Iran through the Dogharoun border crossing, he added.
“Uzbekistan imports gas condensates from Iran and, after processing them, sells the low-quality fuel to Afghans.”
Afghans would rather buy low-quality gasoline from other countries than import quality fuel from Iran.
According to the official, it seems as if there is a mafia of middlemen hampering Iranian fuel exports to Afghanistan.
As Afghans are unwilling to buy fuel from Iran, Iranian traders have focused on markets in Fujairah in the UAE and Pakistan, he added.
Iran accounted for 70% of gasoline exports to Afghanistan between 2021 and 2022.
Dogharoun border crossing (known as Islam Qala on the Afghan side) is located in Khorasan Razavi’s Taybad County.
According to the official, the checkpoint is one of Iran’s top five trade terminals, located 120 kilometers west of Herat, for entering one of Afghanistan’s main consumer markets.
Afghanistan was one of Iran’s major trading partners in the region with annual exports amounting to $2 billion.
