Iran’s Deputy Transport Minister Urges Land Border Reinforcement to Secure Essential Commodities and Preserve Transit Corridors

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development for Transport, Dr. Mehran Ghorbai, has called for decisive action to lift border bottlenecks, boosten overland trade routes complementary to the nation’s southern seaports, and expand truck-processing capacity at terrestrial crossings in a concerted effort to maintain the uninterrupted transit of goods through Iranian territory.

The directive came as Dr. Ghorbai chaired the eighth session of the Committee on Transit Facilitation and International Logistics Development under the National Transit Headquarters. The assembly reviewed the national multimodal transit performance during the first half of 2025 and assessed a newly instituted daily monitoring framework tracking commercial fleet movements at all national entry and exit points.

The monitoring system draws upon data from the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, the Customs Administration, free trade zones and the Ministry of Interior, encompassing truck volumes, queue lengths, transiting tonnage, and strategic management indicators. Officials underscored that the system will serve as a critical instrument for policy formulation, executive decision-making, and bilateral negotiations. To that end, participants resolved to implement refined information-access classifications, designate a pilot border crossing and convene expert-level meetings to sharpen operational definitions and procedures.

The Trade Promotion Organization and the Customs Administration presented an analytical report on the non-oil overseas trade, prompting the Deputy Minister to stress the strategic significance of three commodity categories—industrial goods, pharmaceuticals and essential foodstuffs. Dr. Ghorbai also called for rigorous analysis of target markets and entry-departure corridors, requesting comprehensive situational assessments of Iran’s ten most vital border crossings for essential goods procurement. He further urged a diagnostic evaluation of border conditions and the disaggregation of export commodities to ensure that policy conclusions rest upon precise data.

In a subsequent segment, the Road Maintenance and Transport Organization delivered an analysis of trade and transport exchanges at shared Iran–Iraq border crossings. Following deliberations, it was resolved that the governors-general of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Khuzestan provinces shall advance priority domestic and cross-border measures in coordination with national authorities. These measures include customs and border process reform, bottleneck elimination, expanded truck reception capacity on both sides of the frontier, and utilization of adjacent peripheral zones.

Progress reports will be submitted to the National Gateway Headquarters on a fortnightly basis. In closing, Ghorbai stressed the necessity of field inspections at national border crossings and called for the finalization of detailed data tables documenting border-related challenges, enabling prioritized and operational remediation.