Stimson Center:

Amid attacks by Israel and the United States, Iran has unveiled a new transcontinental trade route to China in line with one of the central pillars of Iranian foreign policy: to position Iran at the center of shifting and growing Eurasian connectivity.

Traditionally, the Persian Gulf has been critical to Iranian trade. The more recent push to develop land routes to Central Asia aims to diversify commercial links and boost cooperation with a booming area of economic growth.

These land routes have become increasingly important as the region redefines itself as a major node in transcontinental trade, between Russia and Afghanistan, as well as between China and the European Union. Major powers have all established separate summit formats with the five Central Asian states and seek trade and investment opportunities with them. In the past, Central Asia was not at the epicenter of Iran’s foreign policy, yet this might be changing given the region’s growing economic and transit potential.

Tehran has made major moves to improve relations with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan and has expanded ties with Uzbekistan. In June, Iran and Turkmenistan signed a memorandum of understanding on enhancing shipping and logistics coordination. In May, the two countries agreed on a roadmap for comprehensive cooperation over the next two years, with a key point being to boost mutual work on transport and logistics.

In January, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian visited Tajikistan, reversing a negative trend in relations with the fellow Persian-speaking country that had prevailed since the 1990s. The two sides signed 22 memorandums of understanding covering infrastructure, trade, and other issues while dubbing improving ties “strategic.” A landlocked country, Tajikistan seeks better access to big markets and is therefore interested in Iran’s Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports. Tajikistan is also reacting to India’s interest in connecting to Central Asia via Chabahar. An Iran-Tajikistan Business Forum held in Dushanbe in January produced 13 bilateral cooperation documents on infrastructure and trade, among other issues. In June, officials from both countries met again to discuss trade.

But Iran is looking beyond Central Asia to China. On May 12, a meeting was held in Tehran among senior railway officials from Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey to discuss the development of a transcontinental rail network. On May 25, a freight train from Xi’an, China, carrying a load of solar panels, arrived at the Aprin rail dry port, marking the official launch of a direct rail link between the two countries. From western China, the route crosses Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan en route to Iran.

Iran is capitalizing on Central Asia’s expanding links with China. For example, in late 2023, Kazakhstan unveiled the Ayagoz-Tacheng railway connection, its third rail border crossing with China. There is also the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, a long-stalled project, which lately has seen major progress on the Chinese side. 

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