“This is Roznak, a train station near the city of Herat,”
Bikdeli said in a video message Wednesday. “As you can see, Iranian fuel wagons
have entered Afghanistan for the first time.”
Mostafa Rezaei, head of the Iran–Afghanistan Railway
Development Consortium, said the inaugural shipment included 1,120 tons of
diesel carried in 20 wagons through the Shamtigh rail crossing earlier in the
week.
Rezaei said the arrival of the train at Roznak station
signaled the beginning of “a new phase” in trade and transit between the two
countries. The consortium plans to export more than 30,000 tons of high-quality
fuel monthly along the same route.
Iran is one of Afghanistan’s largest trading partners, with
annual trade between the two countries totaling nearly $4 billion. Analysts say
the closure of Pakistani ports to Afghan traders has deepened Kabul’s economic
reliance on Tehran, making the new railway route increasingly vital for
regional commerce.
