Iran’s Growing Economic Ties With Central Asia

Date: 01 June 2025 - 22:07

News ID: ۱۴۰۲۳۴

By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

The principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been promotion of peace and stability in the region and beyond, and this is evident in all spheres including its civilian nuclear project, its firm stance against the crimes of the illegal Zionist entity, and its relations with world countries, priorities being the neighbourhood.

Whether with the West Asian region or South Asia, whether with Europe or Central Asia, as well as the Americas and Australia, Iran pursues the same prudent policy of peace, in spite of the blind hostility of the US regime towards the Islamic Republic.

For instance, Iran has shared historical, cultural, religious, and lingual ties with Central Asia and Its extensive road and railway network, coupled with major ports in the Indian Ocean, gives Iran an important advantage in cooperation with the landlocked Central Asian republics.

The focus of Iran’s regional interaction to develop trade and transport logistics links.

Although the total volume of mutual trade currently is over 1.5 billion dollars – a modest figure – statistics shown significant growth in recent years.

Iran’s goal is to increase trade with Uzbekistan fourfold to 2 billion dollars, while increasing trade with Kazakhstan and Tajikistan to 1 billion dollars each, and boosting trade with Turkmenistan by 30 percent.

The Central Asian states, seeking out new consumer markets and efficient connections to the world’s major economies view Iran as the main conduit.

Iran combines both these qualities, making it a valuable partner for the region. Furthermore, Iran boasts solid scientific and technical expertise in engineering, energy, agriculture, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, and has an investment base for joint production.

Iran plays a pivotal role in the Eurasian Land Bridge connecting China and Europe by rail. Several overland transit routes from east to west pass through Iran by land, which also involve the Central Asian countries. The China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkiye-EU railway corridor is actively developed, and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkiye-EU multimodal route is operating in parallel.

Iran’s deep-water port at Chabahar is of particular interest to the Central Asian republics seeking to expand the southern transit direction.

A full-fledged free trade agreement between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran came into force on May 15, 2025, providing for a sharp reduction in customs duties on most commodities.

All these developments point to a bright future for Iran’s economy as well as the economies of the Central Asian countries.