Iran has announced the start of Russian fuel exports to Afghanistan via its northern railway network, marking the first time Russian diesel is being transported to the country through Iran.
Rahman Masoomi, director general of Iran’s Northern Railway, said on Wednesday that a transit shipment of 5,000 tonnes of Russian diesel is being routed through Iran.
According to Iranian state media, Masoomi told officials that the operation involves moving Russian diesel to Amirabad Port in northern Iran before transporting it by rail onward to Afghanistan.
He said the first shipment 5,000 tonnes of diesel departed Amirabad Port this week en route to Afghanistan.
The development comes one week after the first freight train carrying Iranian-exported diesel arrived at Roznak station in Herat province via the Khaf–Herat railway line.
On 27 October, Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works, said that 1,120 tonnes of diesel had entered Afghanistan through the Khaf–Herat rail link for the first time.
Iran and Afghanistan have expanded rail-based trade in recent months, with diesel emerging as a key component of the growing cross-border transit network.
