ISLAMABAD — Iran’s exports to Pakistan are facing disruption as banking restrictions threaten to bring cross-border trade to a standstill, raising fresh concerns over the economic relationship between the two neighbouring countries.
Peyman Sanandaji, head of the Transportation Commission of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, told Iranian media that banking-related hurdles temporarily disrupted Iranian exports to Pakistan. He warned that if the obstacles to financial transactions remain unresolved, exports could effectively grind to a halt.
The development highlights how international banking sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United States on Iran, continue to complicate trade even when physical borders remain open.
According to Sanandaji, Pakistani importers are required to submit electronic import forms to their banks for goods arriving from Iran. However, difficulties associated with Iran’s restricted banking system have made the process increasingly challenging, disrupting the movement of Iranian goods into Pakistan.
The immediate concern is not a border closure but the inability to complete the banking and payment procedures required to facilitate trade.
Sanandaji warned that continued difficulties in processing financial transactions could effectively halt Iran’s exports to Pakistan if no workable solution is found.
Despite the disruption, the shared land trade border between Iran and Pakistan remains open, according to the reported remarks. Sanandaji also dismissed claims circulating in a purported letter that a border crossing had been closed.
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While Iranian exports face uncertainty, shipments from Pakistan to Iran may still continue, Sanandaji said, although their continuation would depend on cooperation from the Pakistani side. This creates the possibility of an uneven impact on bilateral trade, with Iranian exporters facing immediate difficulties while Pakistani suppliers could retain opportunities to access the Iranian market.
Iran and Pakistan have long sought to expand economic ties, with some estimates placing their bilateral trade potential at between $10 billion and $13 billion. Actual trade has remained substantially below that level, reaching several hundred million dollars to a few billion dollars in recent years, depending on the period and measurement used.
Tehran supplies Pakistan with oil, petroleum products, chemicals, steel and other goods. Pakistan, meanwhile, exports rice, meat, agricultural products and other commodities to Iran. Yet banking restrictions, customs procedures, logistics bottlenecks and difficulties moving goods across the border have repeatedly limited the expansion of formal trade.
