Voice of Urdu – International News in English & Urdu

Pakistan Resumes Iran Border Trade After Security Suspension — AI-generated representative image: Cargo trucks queue near a remote border crossing in Balochistan as Pakistan partially resumes trade with Iran.

Editorial Team

Cargo restarts at Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings as import paperwork dispute stalls Iranian shipments

Pakistan has partially resumed cargo movement through its border crossings with Iran in Balochistan province, more than a week after Islamabad suspended trade citing security risks. Goods began moving again through the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings over the weekend, with Pakistani exports such as rice and bananas crossing and previously loaded Iranian trucks, including those carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), slowly entering the country.

The partial reopening matters because the suspension had triggered severe LPG shortages and price spikes in Pakistan, which imports most of its energy from the Middle East. The halt also fueled speculation that Islamabad acted under United States pressure as part of Washington's economic campaign against Iran, an allegation Pakistani officials have not directly addressed.

Trade Resumes in Stages

Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said trade "partially resumed this weekend." Border officials cleared consignments dated October 16 or earlier, according to goods truck association officials.

Haji Noor Muhammad Shahwani, central president of the Balochistan Goods Truck Owners Association, said from Quetta that Pakistani exports were moving across the border. He confirmed that trucks loaded in Iran before the closure, including LPG carriers, were also entering Pakistan, though he described the pace as slow.

Rizwan Ahmed, a customs clearing agent near the Gabd-Rimdan crossing, said customs authorities had instructed agents to file declarations for stranded trucks so they could be released. His own export consignment, containing rice, retail goods, potatoes and bananas, had just departed.

Security Crisis Behind the Closure

Pakistan suspended cargo traffic on October 17, citing a deteriorating security situation in Balochistan, a province that has faced a separatist rebellion for decades. Gunmen attacked trucks waiting near the Gabd crossing on the Pakistani side on October 23. The military reported that 10 attackers were killed in operations around Gabd and Gwadar city, and one civilian died.

Balochistan accounted for 131 of the 225 armed attacks recorded nationwide in September, the highest monthly national total in 12 years, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Bakhtiar Ismail, deputy commissioner of Chagai district, wrote on October 18 that the closure was a temporary measure to improve border management and support counterterrorism efforts.

Paperwork Dispute Stalls Iranian Cargo

Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said on Sunday that Iran had placed no restrictions on exports to Pakistan, including LPG, and that its borders remained open. He attributed the disruption to changes in Pakistan's E-Form procedure for imports, saying traders were "effectively and literally unable to dispatch cargo from Iran to Pakistan."

A Commerce Ministry memorandum dated October 16 withdrew an earlier October 3 memorandum that had extended a waiver on the E-Form, also known as the EIF, for imports from Iran. The E-Form records imports and their payment through banks. Moghadam said consultations with Pakistan were under way and that several hundred LPG trucks had crossed into Gabd but had yet to be unloaded or cleared. Shahwani said the unloading problem remained unresolved, suggesting it involved "some problem with the banks, something to do with international trade."

What Lies Ahead

A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sajjad Haider Khan, said at a weekly briefing on Friday that Pakistan adheres to all applicable sanctions regimes in accordance with international and domestic laws, but said he lacked direct knowledge of the situation on the ground. He did not confirm whether the border was open or whether the United States had pressured Pakistan over the closure.

The Ministry of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. While Pakistani exports and previously loaded Iranian cargo are moving, it remains unclear when newly loaded Iranian shipments will be cleared, and additional information on the paperwork dispute is still awaited.