Iran: non-oil exports to neighbouring states surge since March

Iran’s non-oil exports to neighbouring countries have surged in the five months since the start of the Persian calendar year on 20 March, Press TV has reported. There has been a 27 per cent year-on-year increase to $10.7 billion, according to government figures.

The spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Association (IRICA), Ruholah Latifi, said that more than 33.3 million tonnes of non-oil goods worth $20.6bn were exchanged between Iran and fifteen of its neighbours in the same period. Iran’s overall trade in non-oil goods was worth $42.5 billion.

Latifi also pointed out that after Iraq, which imported 8.6 million tonnes of non-oil goods from Iran worth over $2.9 billion, the UAE was next in value at $2.7 billion, followed by Turkiye with $2.3 billion in imports. The UAE and Kuwait agreed last month to send their ambassadors back to Tehran, after a six-year hiatus in downgraded ties with the Islamic Republic.

Despite the US-imposed sanctions on Tehran, Iraq has received waivers from the US allowing it to buy much-needed Iranian electricity and natural gas. Iraq’s main purchases also include agricultural products and engineering services from its neighbour.

Iran imported $21.6 billion worth of goods in the first five months of the Persian calendar, representing an increase of 21 per cent over the same period last year.

Iran shares land and sea borders with 15 countries: the UAE, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Turkiye, Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia. Increasing non-oil exports to these countries has been a major policy objective pursued by Tehran in recent years.

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