The Taliban-run commerce minister, Nooruddin Azizi, held discussions with an Iranian delegation on boosting imports and exports between Afghanistan and Iran via rail, according to a Taliban statement.
According to the Taliban’s ministry of commerce, the talks focused on facilitating the transport of Afghan goods through Iran and Turkey to European markets, a development they described as a significant aspect of the negotiations.
The Iranian delegation, led by Morteza Jafari, the deputy head of Iran’s Railway Operations, pledged to expedite the transfer of Afghanistan’s export, transit, and import goods “in the shortest time and at the lowest cost,” the ministry said in a statement.
The talks come amid mounting concerns from economic experts over Afghanistan’s growing trade imbalance under Taliban rule. Observers warn that a surge in imports coupled with a decline in exports has turned Afghanistan into a consumption-driven economy, exacerbating poverty and unemployment.
Russia recently reported that Afghanistan was its largest importer of flour globally in 2024. Similarly, both Pakistan and Iran have noted an increase in their exports to Afghanistan, though reports indicate that Afghanistan’s exports to these countries have significantly decreased in comparison to previous years.
