BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 10. Astana is preparing for the visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, with the transport sector expected to be an important, if not key, topic of discussion. Kazakhstan and Iran are participants in the eastern branch of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which connects Russia and Central Asia with the ports of the Persian Gulf and India. In 2024, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan signed a roadmap for the synchronized development of the corridor for 2024-2025. The implementation of the measures is expected to increase the corridor’s capacity to 15 million tons by 2027 and 20 million tons by 2030.
However, despite the progressive development of transport cooperation, a number of unresolved issues remain. Specifically, UN ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) representative Azhar Jaimurzina Ducrest, previously stated in an interview with Trend that it is necessary to reassess the “bottlenecks” on the North-South route and eliminate the accumulated restrictions of recent years.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport, Nurlan Sauynbaev, announced at a recent briefing that a meeting with his Iranian counterpart is being prepared, during which Astana plans to raise the issue of Iranian vessels’ access to Kazakh ports. This issue is complicated by international sanctions imposed on Iran. Restrictions, including those from the U.S., create risks for the use of Iranian vessels in international trade, directly impacting logistics in the Caspian region.
An additional challenge for regional connectivity remains the environmental situation: the persistent drop in the Caspian Sea level has sharply reduced the loading capacity of Kazakhstan’s ports of Aktau and Kuryk, with vessels only able to load up to 30% of their capacity. This problem also affects Iran, making it a significant topic for bilateral discussions.
Kazakhstan is actively expanding its presence in the southern ports of Iran. Astana is interested in establishing a logistics center in the Bandar Abbas region, and in May 2025, Kazakhstan’s railway freight operators announced plans to build a terminal and logistics hub at the Shahid Rajaee port. Both sides have also expressed interest in strengthening cooperation within the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. These projects are aimed at reinforcing Kazakhstan’s position in the international transport network and boosting Central Asia’s transit potential.
An important factor in the development of trade was the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Iran and the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union), which came into force on May 15, 2025. It grants Iran preferential access to 90% of the commodity nomenclature, and average import duties for goods from the EAEU have been reduced from 20% to 4.5%. According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Iran grew by 44% in January-September 2025, reaching $310.8 million. Iran also remains an important market for Kazakh grain, with shipments totalling over 1 million tons in the 2024/2025 marketing year- a significant increase compared to 86,000 tons the previous year.
Iran has also shown interest in participating in road construction projects in Kazakhstan, which could significantly expand transport infrastructure. Kazakhstan, for its part, is ready to provide Iranian investors with financial incentives and investment guarantees.
Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Astana could be a turning point in deepening the transport partnership between the two countries. Removing restrictions, developing port and land infrastructure, and leveraging the opportunities presented by the free trade agreement could elevate bilateral cooperation to a new level and substantially increase freight traffic between the two nations.