Iran seeks to address issue of closed borders

By Trend

Iran intends to continue non-oil export to neighbor countries, said Head of Export Committee in Iran Chamber of Commerce.

Jamshid Nafar has discussed the issues of export of non-oil goods during coronavirus outbreak in an interview with Trend.

"The borders to Afghanistan are open. Iran's ambassador in Turkmenistan has informed us about temporary permit issued by Turkmenistan for Iranian trucks," the committee head said.

"As for Iraq borders with Iran, some of them are open and some are closed," Nafar added. "Meanwhile, Turkey has set certain conditions for entrance of Iranian trucks. It is said that the drivers should be Turks who can transit goods to the country. Thus, Iranian businessmen are seeking to hire Turkish drivers to export their goods"

"However, the situation at the Iran's borders is not stable. It's possible that a border will be shut in next two hours," he said adding that the Export Committee is working with Iran's Customs Administration to assess the situations and holding consultations with Foreign Ministry.

"It's expected that Iran's Foreign Ministry would negotiate with neighbor countries to address the problem of the goods' transit. The situation is neither normal nor good, as no neighbor country that closed the borders with Iran announced their possible reopening," the official noted.

"At the same time, Iran's problem in export to Iraq is not a new matter, as the regulations change constantly. However, in this situation, all the organizations are trying to avoid export being halted, as our situation is special and exceptional," he said.

Iran's neighbor countries have shut their borders with Iran as the number of people infected in the country by coronavirus have increased.