Ismail Pourabad, the head of Iran’s Dogharoon Customs, has announced a seventy percent increase in the volume of transit goods entering Afghanistan through this border in the first ten months of the current Solar Hijri year, compared to the same period last year.
According to Pourabad, 1.95 million tonnes of goods were transported to Afghanistan through this route during the stated period.
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Monday, citing the Iranian official, that Iran’s exports to Afghanistan via Dogharoon Customs rose by 25 percent between 20 March 2024 and 19 January 2025, compared to the same period last year.
Pourabad stated that 1,315,527 tonnes of goods were exported to Afghanistan during this time.
According to the Iranian official, key Iranian exports to Afghanistan included construction materials, iron, fuel, and liquefied gas.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ali Khashi, Supervisor of Sistan-Baluchestan province customs, also reported that over the past 11 months, Iran has exported goods worth $31 million to Afghanistan exclusively through the province’s border crossings.
The Iranian officials did not specify the reason behind the seventy percent increase in transit trade through the Dogharoon border. However, a decline in Afghan traders’ use of Pakistan for transit trade may be a significant factor behind the surge in imports via Iran.
In recent years, Pakistan has imposed severe restrictions on Afghan transit trade, along with multiple closures of the Torkham border crossing. Afghan traders have been required to provide financial guarantees in Pakistani banks equivalent to the value of their goods and pay 10 percent of the goods’ value as a clearance fee.
