The transport ministries of Tajikistan and Iran have officially entered into a memorandum of understanding to facilitate international cargo transportation and transit through Iran's Chabahar port. Tajikistan's President, Emomali Rahmon, emphasized the strategic importance of leveraging the Chabahar port's potential to enhance economic cooperation between the two nations.
Positioned in the southeast of Iran along the Gulf of Oman, Chabahar port is often referred to as the "Golden Gate" for landlocked Central Asian countries, providing direct access to the Indian Ocean. Tajikistan aims to connect to the Indian Ocean through Chabahar, utilizing routes through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, in addition to the existing path through Afghanistan.
At present, Tajikistan primarily relies on Iran's Bandar Abbas port in the Persian Gulf for transporting goods to distant regions. However, with plans to optimize the Chabahar port, Iran seeks to establish it as a key gateway to Central Asia while maintaining the functionality of Bandar Abbas, which currently manages 85% of Iran's maritime trade.
Chabahar offers advantages over Bandar Abbas as it can accommodate standard cargo ships, providing a solution to the challenges faced by the overloaded Bandar Abbas, which struggles with handling large ocean-going cargo vessels. Additionally, Chabahar's location on the northern coast of the Gulf of Oman allows for more direct access to the open ocean compared to the route from Bandar Abbas through the Gulf of Oman.
Looking ahead, experts foresee Chabahar being integrated into the broader transportation network, including the Caspian Sea, through the ongoing construction of the Chabahar-Zahidan railway and the North-South corridor involving Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran's eastern railway. This strategic development is anticipated to further enhance connectivity and trade prospects in the region.
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