After border crossings with Pakistan were closed, Afghanistan shifted much of its trade through Bandar Abbas Port of Iran, but disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has now severely affected trade and aid deliveries.
According to Associated Press, Afghans had increasingly turned to Iranian routes as an alternative to Pakistan’s Karachi Port.
Goods were being transported through Bandar Abbas, but the port lies along the Strait of Hormuz, where conflict has stranded hundreds of ships and thousands of crew members.
At the same time, thousands of containers bound for Afghanistan remain stuck in Pakistan.
The situation has been described as highly damaging for both Afghan trade and humanitarian operations.
The World Food Programme says transport costs have risen sharply, and aid delivery routes have become severely restricted.
Its operations in Afghanistan include distributing life-saving nutritional supplements for malnourished mothers and children, as well as fortified biscuits for school pupils.
The agency said it previously sourced most specialised food supplies for malnutrition treatment from Pakistan.
After Pakistan closed the border in October 2025, shipments began moving by sea through Dubai and Iran.
That route has now effectively collapsed as Tehran controls the Strait of Hormuz while the United States has imposed pressure around Iranian ports.
According to the report, stocks of nutritional supplements gradually declined and were exhausted by mid-April.
John Aylieff, the head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan, warned that this was the highest surge in malnutrition ever recorded in the country, saying: "The lives of 4 million children are hanging in the balance." He said the organisation was now forced to turn away three out of every four acutely malnourished children "because we simply don't have the money".
Even before the latest crisis, the World Food Programme was already facing funding shortages and has received only eight percent of its annual budget this year.
After the Iran conflict began in late February, one shipment of fortified biscuits belonging to the WFP became stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
Instead of travelling from Dubai through Iran into Afghanistan, the shipment is now being rerouted through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkiye, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan.
The World Food Programme said the shipment has already spent three months in transit.
Lutfullah Akbari, who owns a small construction equipment company in Kabul, said his goods from China are stuck on ships unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said transport companies had sharply increased prices and that he no longer had the financial means to continue his business in Kabul.
He said If this waterway does not reopen soon, I may have to abandon the shipment.
Akbari added, the Iran-US war has had a huge impact on my business.
He said some traders had switched to Central Asian routes, but these are longer and far more expensive.
“The shipping company now wants more money than the value of the goods and the investment we made. We cannot afford it,” he said.
“Even if I bring the goods here, I will be forced to sell them at a loss. I cannot afford to lose money twice.”
Gul Mir Amini, who works for Ettifaq Bamiyan International Transport and Trade Company, said the Iran conflict had dramatically increased costs.
Part of the cargo transported by the company consists of humanitarian aid.
According to him, before the conflict, transporting one container cost between 3,000 and 3,600 dollars, but prices have now exceeded 7,000 dollars and, for some goods, more than 11,000 dollars.
“The impact has reached all traders,” he said.
Mohammad Murtaza Ishaqzai, a seller of electrical goods in Kabul, said importing goods from China through Iran previously cost between 1,100 and 1,500 dollars but now exceeds 15,000 dollars.
“We can neither export nor import,” he said.
Eshaqzai urged the Taliban to resolve their dispute with Pakistan so that border trade can resume.
“If this situation continues, our business will collapse,” he warned.
Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesperson for the Taliban's Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said overall price increases in Afghanistan remain limited at around three per cent.
He attributed this to continued trade with Iran and imports from Central Asia, Russia and China.
“The main problem we faced was restrictions on imported goods and our containers coming through Iran from other countries,” he said.
According to Jawad, the Taliban are waiting for a solution regarding the Strait of Hormuz so that exports can resume normally.
Khan Jan Alokozai, a senior adviser at the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said more than 60 percent of Afghanistan’s trade now passes through Central Asia, reducing the overall impact of the Iran conflict.
He said food and fuel imports arrive from Central Asia and Russia, while much of Afghanistan’s trade now passes through Turkiye.
Goods are then transported onwards by rail through Iran or Azerbaijan.
