Tajikistan’s Ministry of Transport has announced that the trial phase of a new transit corridor connecting Dushanbe, Kabul and Tehran will begin within the next month, allowing commercial goods to move between Tajikistan and Iran through Afghanistan.
The project enters its implementation stage following the signing of a trilateral protocol in the Iranian city of Mashhad by transport officials from Tajikistan, Iran and the Taliban’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
The agreement was signed by Shasta Saidmuradzoda, Deputy Minister of Transport of Tajikistan, Reza Akbari, head of Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, and Yar Mohammad Ramazan, representing the Taliban’s transport ministry.
According to Tajik officials, the initiative builds on earlier agreements reached between senior transport authorities from Tajikistan, Iran and the Taliban administration.
To oversee implementation, the three sides have established a permanent joint working group responsible for coordinating the project, resolving operational challenges and proposing measures to further develop the corridor.
Under the agreed roadmap, representatives from the three parties are scheduled to meet in Kabul in November to review progress and discuss the expansion of regional transit cooperation.
The participating countries also plan to improve border infrastructure, reduce waiting times for cargo trucks, simplify customs and transport documentation procedures and expand transport insurance services in an effort to facilitate trade.
Officials involved in the project say the corridor could eventually be extended to additional Central Asian countries and China, potentially strengthening regional connectivity and providing Afghanistan with a larger role in cross-border trade and transit.
