Truck Queues Stretch for Miles at Turkey-Iran Border as Tehran Shifts Trade Overland

Hundreds of trucks are backed up along the mountain road leading into Iran from Turkey's eastern border, as the two countries' largest crossing becomes a critical economic artery for Tehran under a US naval blockade.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has pushed to speed up overland trade, with the blockade choking off most imports and cutting the oil and gas sales that underpin the economy. He accused Washington of trying to weaken Iran by every available means, saying routes by sea, air and land are being closed and internal divisions stoked. Tehran insists the pressure will not shift its position in negotiations with Washington, and wants the blockade lifted before it lets commercial shipping move again through the Strait of Hormuz.

The shift from sea to land is a formidable undertaking. More than 80% of Iran's trade moved through the Gulf before the war, according to economist Mohammad Farzanegan, leaving the crossings with Turkey to the west and Pakistan to the east as the main links to Europe and Asia. Those routes are badly strained. Farzanegan said limited logistics and border capacity, along with regulations, controls and corruption, make transit slower and harder, and that overland trade cannot substitute for the blockade.

At Gürbulak, truck waiting times have more than quadrupled since the war began, data from the International Transporters Association shows. Amir Roshanbakhsh Ghanbari, deputy head of a government agency that promotes Iranian trade, said the number of trucks has jumped from about 200 to 1,200, more than destination countries can absorb. He attributed part of the backup to neighbours' reluctance to expand infrastructure while the situation's duration remains unclear.

A reporter visiting the crossing on Tuesday saw road work to add lanes. Two local road authority staffers, speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to comment, said Turkey was upgrading border infrastructure under a three-year-old plan. Ersin Şimşek, the association's Gürbulak representative, said Turkish customs had cut waiting times for vehicles arriving from Iran from 30 days to 22 by adding lanes at fuel measurement stations and doubling X-ray scanners.

Drivers described mounting hardship. Muhammed Rıza Shiri, 55, who had waited four days with a load of rubber, said he had never seen such delays in 15 years on the route, with queues stretching seven kilometres and waits now exceeding five days. Akbar Sadigi, 42, a driver from Tabriz, said longer waits had halved his trips to one a month and his income with them, while fuel for his truck has risen 25% in Iran since his last run. He said some Turkish drivers bribe their way ahead in the line, something he cannot afford. Akbar Yahyai, carrying machinery parts and chemical components, said he had waited four days with no toilet or shower and barely earns enough to eat.

A Telegram channel linked to groups representing Iranian truckers and other transport workers has been flooded with protests over conditions, with drivers complaining of rising costs, expensive tyres and parts, reduced cargo and falling incomes, and warning they will not stay silent. Drivers said the customs line is even longer on the Iranian side, with waits of 12 to 25 days in the past month, many blaming longer Turkish inspections of trucks leaving Iran.

Iran's leaders have acknowledged the stakes. The economy contracted by more than 10% in the three months after the Iranian calendar year began on March 20, compared with a year earlier, and the non-oil economy shrank 4.6%, according to the statistics agency. The rial has slumped and inflation has soared since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, weeks after collapsing conditions sparked anti-government protests and a deadly crackdown.

Officials in Iran and neighbouring countries say they are trying to accelerate crossings. Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said this week that Iran and Pakistan plan to keep their crossings open around the clock, and that agreements have been reached to open a new crossing at Kuhak, state media reported after his Pakistani counterpart visited Tehran on Monday.