TEHRAN- As announced by Iran’s Port and Maritime Organization (PMO), transit of commodities via railway has increased by 131 percent in Shahid Rajaei port, in south of Iran, during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

As reported, over 381 tons of goods were transited in the mentioned time span via railway in Shahid Rajaei port, in Hormozgan province.

Shahid Rajaei Port, as the largest and most advanced container port in Iran, with 10 container berths with a total length of 2,500 meters and 23 active gantry cranes, currently has the capacity to load/unload more than 80% of container freights in Iran ports.

While Iran is combating the U.S. unilateral sanctions on its economy, the country’s ports as the major gates of exports and imports play a significant role in this battle. This role makes all-out support to ports and more development of them serious and vital.

 Iran handled nearly 22 million tons of foreign transit cargo in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2025), marking a 22.5 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Foroud Asgari said that a total of 21.913 million tons of goods transited through Iranian territory in the past year, IRNA reported.

He noted that 19.654 million tons of the total cargo volume passed through ten major customs checkpoints: Shahid Rajaei, Parvizkhan, Bashmaq, Sarakhs, Bazargan, Astara, Piranshahr, Bileh Savar, Lotfabad, and Jolfa.

The highest year-on-year growth in transit volume came from the Sarakhs, Piranshahr, and Lotfabad customs terminals, which recorded increases of 148 percent, 65 percent, and 58 percent, respectively.

The uptick in transit reflects Iran’s growing role as a strategic corridor for international trade, particularly between Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Persian Gulf.

The continuous trend of recent transit records via the country and the increasing interest of governments, traders, and those active in transport sectors from neighboring, regional, and extra-regional countries in the transit and logistics situation of the Islamic Republic of Iran indicate the fruitfulness of the transformational approach of the government to the strategic issue of transit, with emphasis on the development of all-round economic relations with neighbors.

As stated by the former Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, the “Iran Way” initiative made by the government, lets the neighboring countries use Iran as a route or a solution that facilitates their access to international waters.

Iran Way initiative is the gateway to Iran's land of transit opportunities, the official underlined.

Iran is one of the countries with a special status in trade and transit relations due to its strategic location and special geography, as the country is the passage of several important international corridors.

Considering its geographical location, Iran can play a significant role in the transit of goods in the region and benefit a lot from its status in this due.

Paying attention to upstream documents, especially the country's development plans, and the government's decision to develop transit, paying special attention to infrastructure development, reducing transit time, making it cheaper to cross Iran, and making more advantages over competitors, due to the short path for customers, can lead to facilitating the development of transit so that the country can reach the desired growth in this due.

In early May, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Farzaneh Sadegh elaborated on the most important programs and macro policies of her ministry, including maritime-oriented development.

She said that the main part of the maritime-oriented economy policies is related to the southern coasts, including Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, and all the provinces located on the southern borders of the country.

“With the planning and comprehensive plan that we are preparing, we will take action to develop the southern coasts with a maritime-oriented economy approach”, the minister further emphasized.

In late December, President Masoud Pezeshkian said that a detailed strategy and private sector’s contribution is necessary for transformation in the maritime-oriented economy.

Making the remarks in a session on the development of maritime-oriented economy, the president, while emphasizing the development of a detailed strategy in this field, addressed the necessity of the presence of the private sector in the industries related to the sea and stated: “For the presence of the private sector, it is necessary to prepare and compile the economic frameworks and commercial annexes of the development plans of the sea economy.”

He further put emphasis on the high importance of sea-oriented industries, especially the shipbuilding industry, and said the 14th government pays special attention to sea-related industries and is doing its best to comprehensively examine the issues, problems and opportunities facing the country in this field.

President Pezeshkian has referred to the government's prioritization of the maritime-oriented economy and the importance of the prosperity of this sector on the country's growth, development and prosperity, and stated that the government is determined to implement maritime-oriented development plans.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), in its December report, underlined the importance of the country’s maritime capacities and the role that the sector can play in developing the country’s economy.

According to the report, maritime sector in Iran has very high capacity in various fields including trade, ports and shipping due to the country’s strategic location, long coastal strip in the north and south and access to open waters, and can bring economic prosperity to the country.

“About a third of the country's borders are water borders, so we cannot ignore port and shipping activities because for a country that has long water borders and access to open waters, the prosperity of shipping and maritime trade is essential. Therefore, the government should pay full attention to the strengths and weaknesses of this sector and make the best use of the current capacities with proper planning,” the report read.

Increasing the share of the maritime sector in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) under the framework of the newly proposed maritime-oriented policy should be one of the most important concerns of the government, which can be achieved with proper planning, the PMO said.

The share of the sea in the gross domestic product in advanced coastal countries such as the European Union is 50 percent, but the figure is not significant in Iran despite having more than 5,800 kilometers of coastal strip, and this is despite the fact that there are huge capacities for the transit of goods from Central Asian countries.

MA