Pakistan reopens border trade with Iran after nine-day security halt

Pakistan has resumed partial trade with Iran at the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan border crossings in Balochistan province. The movement of goods began on Monday, following a nine-day suspension that started on October 17. Islamabad originally halted cargo traffic citing security risks, but officials have now cleared consignments dated from October 16 and earlier.

Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that trade partially resumed over the weekend. Haji Noor Muhammad Shahwani, central president of the Balochistan Goods Truck Owners Association, confirmed that Pakistani exports, including rice and bananas, were crossing into Iran. He added that trucks loaded in Iran before the closure, such as those carrying liquefied petroleum gas, were also entering Pakistan. Shahwani noted that these vehicles are clearing slowly.

Rizwan Ahmed, a customs clearing agent based near the Gabd-Rimdan crossing, said customs authorities instructed agents to file declarations for stranded trucks. He reported that his own consignment of rice, retail goods, potatoes, and bananas had just left. However, Ahmed did not clarify if the clearance applied to goods loaded after October 16. The previous halt in Iranian LPG supplies caused severe shortages and price spikes in Pakistan, a country that imports the bulk of its energy from the Middle East.

Iran disputes the full resumption of trade, arguing that new import paperwork rules are holding up its cargo. Reza Amiri Moghadam, the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, wrote on X that changes to Pakistan's E-Form procedure have made it difficult for traders to dispatch goods. He stated that Iran placed no restrictions on exports and that its borders remained open. A memorandum from Pakistan's Commerce Ministry dated October 16 withdrew a previous waiver for the E-Form, which records imports and bank payments. The change took effect immediately.

The security context in Balochistan remains tense. Gunmen attacked trucks near the Gabd crossing on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of 10 attackers and one civilian, according to the military. The province recorded 131 armed attacks in September, the highest monthly total in 12 years. Bakhtiar Ismail, the deputy commissioner of Chagai, described the closure as a temporary measure for border management and counterterrorism. Meanwhile, the Pakistani foreign ministry said it adheres to all applicable sanctions regimes but did not specify if the United States pressured the closure.

The trade halt occurred against the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran, which began on February 28. Washington has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and wide-ranging economic sanctions to cut off Iranian revenue. Imtiaz Baloch, a security analyst, said US maximum pressure policies likely influenced the situation, either directly through government orders or indirectly through banking channels. He noted that no concrete statement has yet linked the closure explicitly to US economic policy.