Ehsan Malekzadeh, chairman of the board of the Iranian regime’s Association of International Transportation Companies, reported a large accumulation of imported goods in regional ports and said that around 20,000 containers belonging to Iran are stranded in Pakistani ports, with no stable and low-cost route yet available for transferring them into the country.
In an interview with the state-run Mehr news agency, Malekzadeh referred to conditions following the recent war and stated that some goods being transported to Iran were unloaded at the first safe transit ports due to wartime conditions and international maritime transportation regulations. According to him, this has caused Iranian shipments to become stranded in ports such as Karachi, Jebel Ali, Khor Fakkan, Jeddah, and several ports in India.
He added that in the case of Pakistan, due to domestic laws and international restrictions, no secure and clearly defined route has yet been established to transfer this volume of containers to Iran. According to him, in the United Arab Emirates as well, despite a significant portion of the goods being unloaded at Jebel Ali port, restrictions and high costs have prevented their direct transfer to Iran, and only a limited number of shipments have entered the country through Oman and Iraq.
Malekzadeh warned that if the current situation continues, many of these shipments could be considered abandoned goods, especially in Pakistan, where the storage period is limited to 60 days. He also reported a sharp rise in demurrage, warehousing, and so-called war risk costs, which have imposed significant pressure on importers and ultimately consumers.
Referring to efforts to resolve the crisis, Malekzadeh said that Iran’s International Transportation Association is in talks with domestic institutions, neighboring countries, and embassies to establish stable transportation routes.
In another part of his remarks, he pointed to structural problems in the country’s transportation fleet and said that restrictions on fleet modernization, difficulties in obtaining visas for Iranian drivers, and the failure of some domestic trucks to meet international standards are among the main obstacles to Iran’s foreign trade.
According to him, while around 500,000 trucks are operating in the country, a significant portion of the fleet remains outdated, and trucks manufactured or assembled domestically largely do not meet the standards required for travel on European routes.
Malekzadeh concluded by emphasizing that without restructuring the transportation fleet and removing international transportation obstacles, the cost of Iran’s foreign trade will continue to rise.
