Iranian media reports note that the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan has a strategic location. It is situated along Iran’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan and is home to the country’s only ocean port of Chabahar on the Sea of Oman. That has turned the province into a hub for exports and transit of cargo in Iran.
IRNA says Sistan and Baluchestan has been a key part of Iran’s efforts to fight the impacts of foreign sanctions through ramping up non-oil exports. Goods exported from the province reportedly reached over 3.286 million metric tons worth more than US$1.187 billion in the nine months to December 21, 2022, up 2% and 8% year on year in volume and value terms, respectively.
Increased ports activity at Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantari terminals in Chabahar, which is the only Iranian trade gateway on the oceans, has further boosted export opportunities in Sistan and Baluchestan.
That reportedly comes on top of growing number of border markets in the province which facilitate exports of non-oil products to neighboring countries.
Mohammad Ali Khashi, who leads the local customs office in Sistan Baluchestan, told IRNA that exports from the province over March-December had been delivered to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Tajikistan, adding that shipments mostly included cement, clinker, coke, dates, natural gas, tomato, apple and some other agricultural products.
Recall, Tehran hopes that extension of Iran’s Chabahar seaport will help the country become a key transit route to land-locked Central Asia and Afghanistan. Chabahar Port could be the best and safest route for transit of Tajik goods.
Tajik foreign minister reportedly asked for cooperation in Chabahar Port as a great trade zone for international cooperation during his visit to Tehran in late May 2019.
Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths.
Sistan and Baluchestan Province is the second largest province of the 31 provinces of Iran, after Kerman province. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, and its capital is Zahedan. The province has an area of 180,726 km2 and a population of 2.78 million.
Industry is new to the province. Efforts have been done and tax, customs and financial motivations have caused more industrial investment, new projects, new producing jobs and improvement of industry. The most important factories are the Khash cement factory with production of 2600 tons cement daily and three other cement plants. Cotton cloth and fishing net weaving factories and the brick factory can be named as well.
