Iran's unofficial blockade of up to 2,500 fuel trucks at its border with Afghanistan may leave millions of Afghans shivering as winter rolls in, senior officials in the war-torn nation say. The ban ostensibly stems from the erroneous belief that the shipments are destined for NATO forces operating in Afghanistan, they say
 Senior Iranian officials say an unofficial fuel ban to Afghanistan would soon be resolved. AFP photo |
While numerous Afghans grapple with rising fuel prices and dwindling supplies in the depth of winter, convoys of relief aid stand idle just across the border in Iran, according to reports.
An Afghan commerce official said Tuesday the Islamic republic's decision to stop up to 2,500 fuel trucks at its border with Afghanistan is tantamount to an "embargo," as the unofficial ban, now in its second week, has pushed wholesale domestic fuel prices up as much as 70 percent. The shortage of fuel has also threatened to stop trucks loaded with commercial goods traveling along a key southern transport route from reaching the capital.
Afghan officials say the ban ostensibly stems from an erroneous belief in Iran that the shipments are destined for NATO forces operating in Afghanistan. The timing, however, suggests another reason – the halt began at roughly the same time Iran slashed its domestic fuel subsidies in a bid to cut costs and boost an economy squeezed by international sanctions.
Iran "wants to impose a kind of sanction or embargo on us," Farid Shirzai, head of the Afghan Commerce Ministry's Fuel Department, told The Associated Press. "This is un-Islamic and against international transit law. They have no right to stop (the tankers) because they are merely passing through Iranian territory."
Iran supplies about 30 percent of the country's refined fuel, Afghan officials say. The remainder of the blocked shipments of vehicle and heating fuel comes from Iraq and Turkmenistan and is only transiting Iran, they say.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday the issue would soon be resolved, stressing the ban was the result of "technical problems" following a cut in Iranian subsidies in late December. "After changes that cut subsidies, it is natural that some technical problems occur when sending fuel to neighboring countries... The problem is being resolved," Mehmanparast said.
UN sanctions
Afghans affected by the resulting fuel shortages say they believe the crisis is Tehran's retribution for crippling sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council this past summer. Analysts in Kabul link it to Iranian resentment over being left out of a multibillion-dollar gas-pipeline deal worked out among neighbors Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tajikistan.
Like many Afghans, Haji Mohammad Noor is feeling the pinch of fuel costs that rose sharply during the crisis. A trucker from the western province of Farah, Noor is grounded in the neighboring province of Herat and cannot afford to hit the road again until fuel prices fall.
Transport fares have not risen along with costs, and he has decided to wait out the fuel blockade. But the living costs he incurs are already eating away at his profits.
Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL's, Radio Free Afghanistan, Noor said Iranian authorities imposed the unofficial blockade because of U.S.-backed sanctions.
"Now they are taking it out on Afghanistan because Americans are here," Noor says. "This way they want the Afghans to pressure the Americans [to ease sanctions] and then they will open the border."
Afghan Commerce Ministry and customs officials have said Iranian authorities told them the trucks were not being allowed through for national security reasons – a reference to the suspicion that the fuel is bound for NATO forces.
The dispute could test relations between the neighbors, creating a new challenge for President Hamid Karzai's government at a time when it is struggling in tandem with its NATO allies to quell a virulent insurgency and to rebuild the country after decades of war.
After senior Afghan officials recently traveled to Tehran to discuss the fuel issue, Shirzai said Iran began allowing 40 trucks per day through its borders with three western Afghan provinces on Monday, up from the roughly four trucks per day it had allowed through in the preceding two weeks.
"The issue, we hope, will be solved sooner rather than later so that (Afghans) will not have to suffer because of a lack of day-to-day goods," Waheed Omer, a spokesman for President Karzai, said recently. "We hope that Iran can contribute to being a good neighbor," Omer said. "We hope we can settle this issue through diplomatic channels."
NATO officials insist they are not receiving the fuel. Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz said Monday that "we do not get any logistics from Iran."
Refined fuel prices have risen from around $900 per ton to between $1,500 and $1,600 per ton, said Hobidullah, the head of the chamber of commerce in the southern province of Nimroz, one of three provinces bordering Iran that have seen shipments halted.
As many as 80 percent of the gasoline stations on the main road between the southern province of Kandahar and the northwestern province of Herat shut down because of a lack of supplies, he said, adding that the situation was the same between Nimroz and Herat.
"If these trucks don't go through, all the transportation" from much of the south to Kabul will stop, Hobidullah said.
An Afghan commerce official said Tuesday the Islamic republic's decision to stop up to 2,500 fuel trucks at its border with Afghanistan is tantamount to an "embargo," as the unofficial ban, now in its second week, has pushed wholesale domestic fuel prices up as much as 70 percent. The shortage of fuel has also threatened to stop trucks loaded with commercial goods traveling along a key southern transport route from reaching the capital.
Afghan officials say the ban ostensibly stems from an erroneous belief in Iran that the shipments are destined for NATO forces operating in Afghanistan. The timing, however, suggests another reason – the halt began at roughly the same time Iran slashed its domestic fuel subsidies in a bid to cut costs and boost an economy squeezed by international sanctions.
Iran "wants to impose a kind of sanction or embargo on us," Farid Shirzai, head of the Afghan Commerce Ministry's Fuel Department, told The Associated Press. "This is un-Islamic and against international transit law. They have no right to stop (the tankers) because they are merely passing through Iranian territory."
Iran supplies about 30 percent of the country's refined fuel, Afghan officials say. The remainder of the blocked shipments of vehicle and heating fuel comes from Iraq and Turkmenistan and is only transiting Iran, they say.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday the issue would soon be resolved, stressing the ban was the result of "technical problems" following a cut in Iranian subsidies in late December. "After changes that cut subsidies, it is natural that some technical problems occur when sending fuel to neighboring countries... The problem is being resolved," Mehmanparast said.
UN sanctions
Afghans affected by the resulting fuel shortages say they believe the crisis is Tehran's retribution for crippling sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council this past summer. Analysts in Kabul link it to Iranian resentment over being left out of a multibillion-dollar gas-pipeline deal worked out among neighbors Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Tajikistan.
Like many Afghans, Haji Mohammad Noor is feeling the pinch of fuel costs that rose sharply during the crisis. A trucker from the western province of Farah, Noor is grounded in the neighboring province of Herat and cannot afford to hit the road again until fuel prices fall.
Transport fares have not risen along with costs, and he has decided to wait out the fuel blockade. But the living costs he incurs are already eating away at his profits.
Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, or RFE/RL's, Radio Free Afghanistan, Noor said Iranian authorities imposed the unofficial blockade because of U.S.-backed sanctions.
"Now they are taking it out on Afghanistan because Americans are here," Noor says. "This way they want the Afghans to pressure the Americans [to ease sanctions] and then they will open the border."
Afghan Commerce Ministry and customs officials have said Iranian authorities told them the trucks were not being allowed through for national security reasons – a reference to the suspicion that the fuel is bound for NATO forces.
The dispute could test relations between the neighbors, creating a new challenge for President Hamid Karzai's government at a time when it is struggling in tandem with its NATO allies to quell a virulent insurgency and to rebuild the country after decades of war.
After senior Afghan officials recently traveled to Tehran to discuss the fuel issue, Shirzai said Iran began allowing 40 trucks per day through its borders with three western Afghan provinces on Monday, up from the roughly four trucks per day it had allowed through in the preceding two weeks.
"The issue, we hope, will be solved sooner rather than later so that (Afghans) will not have to suffer because of a lack of day-to-day goods," Waheed Omer, a spokesman for President Karzai, said recently. "We hope that Iran can contribute to being a good neighbor," Omer said. "We hope we can settle this issue through diplomatic channels."
NATO officials insist they are not receiving the fuel. Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz said Monday that "we do not get any logistics from Iran."
Refined fuel prices have risen from around $900 per ton to between $1,500 and $1,600 per ton, said Hobidullah, the head of the chamber of commerce in the southern province of Nimroz, one of three provinces bordering Iran that have seen shipments halted.
As many as 80 percent of the gasoline stations on the main road between the southern province of Kandahar and the northwestern province of Herat shut down because of a lack of supplies, he said, adding that the situation was the same between Nimroz and Herat.
"If these trucks don't go through, all the transportation" from much of the south to Kabul will stop, Hobidullah said.
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