Iran redirects freight to roads as border crossings buckle under surge

American sanctions have sharply cut Iran's seaborne trade, prompting the government to move the bulk of imports onto road networks that link the country with Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Border points are now clogged with trucks loaded with cement, iron ore, gas bottles and perishable fruit, leading to spoilage of goods such as apricots. At the Pakistan crossing, traffic grew from around 40 trucks per day to about 130, while the main checkpoint sees roughly 700 vehicles waiting, with only a few dozen cleared each day.

Drivers describe extreme heat, lack of water and food, and occasional demands for fees exceeding ten thousand dollars, though Pakistani officials deny new charges. Iraq's temporary closure of its freight terminals forced Iranian onion trucks to turn back, and Iran is boosting use of the Caspian Sea route, which has seen a 70 percent rise in volume over five months, to import wheat, corn and edible oils from Russia. Nevertheless, land transport remains far more expensive, costing roughly twelve thousand dollars per container compared with three thousand by sea, adding billions of dollars to Iran's annual trade costs.