Russia begins first diesel export to Afghanistan via Iran railway
By Sophia Nina B-A
Tracks of the semi-finished Khaf-Herat railway - this is the photo of the final fourth section which is currently being built.
Summary
Yesterday, Russia reportedly started exporting 5000 tonnes of diesel fuel by railway for the first time to Afghanistan via Iran.
The diesel fuel will be shipped from Russia to the Iranian Caspian seaport of Amirabad, from there the fuel is carried by rail to Mashhad, then to Afghanistan via the semi-finished Khaf-Herat railway, according to the Afghanistan International news channel, an Afghan media outlet, citing the directorate of Iran's Northern Railway. This route forms part of the wider Russia-led International North-South Corridor (INSTC).
There haven’t been any photos of this particular Russian diesel shipment in tankers carried by Iranian railways and the Khaf-Herat rail line published on social media or any other news outlets so far. The photos that are being used are from an older private consignment of Iranian diesel carried out a few weeks ago (see below).
Back in January 2025 there were already hints of Afghanistan's Taliban government being in talks with the Kremlin over increasing Russian diesel exports to Afghanistan.
While Russian diesel trade with Afghanistan has long been ongoing, this is the first time it was carried by railways via Iran. It would usually be transported along from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan via the Hairaton crossing by trucks.
Why this matters?
The growing nexus between Moscow, Tehran and Kabul is gradually shaping a new level of risk for Western policy in the Middle East. The Kremlin has been gradually positioning Afghanistan, and increasingly other friendly countries of Russia, notably Central Asia, Iran and China, not only as a trading and political partner but as a channel for building an anti-Western security system.
While geopolitical relationships are rarely straightforward, the Sino-Eurasia-Afghan supply chain architecture has so far proved to be a workable and yielding alternative for Russia's economic strategies.
Logistics collaboration between Iran and Russia is increasing due to economic and strategic benefits.
Railways, ports, and road networks in Iran, Russia, as well as the transit countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan, are being upgraded to support international shipments.
This development comes ahead of the 3rd Astrakhan International Forum in Astrakhan, which will be held from the 26-28 November 2025, where the Russia-backed North-South corridor project is the central theme and will be opened by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The main items on the agenda focus on how Russian businesses can increase trade with Iran and Afghanistan, with some speakers coming from joint Russian-Afghan and Russian-Iran businesses and trading associations. The Astrakhan conference will take place at the same time as the 3rd EU-Central Asia Economic Forum in Uzbekistan on 26 November 2025. Coincidence? Perhaps…
Background
This development comes a few weeks after the first freight train carrying Iranian-exported diesel arrived at Roznak station in Herat province via the Khaf–Herat railway line. This was managed and operated by a private Iranian consignment.
The black diesel tankers are a private consignment owned by the Iranian DotOne holding company - you can see the logo on the tankers (in grey and white it says ‘one’ with a dot underneath the letter ‘O’). Source: X account of Mohammed Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Public Works
Specifically, on the 10 October, a private consignment operated by a private Iranian company Avant Rail owned by DotOne holding company (see below), reportedly transported diesel via tankers along the Khaf-Herat railway into Afghanistan. This was the first diesel fuel shipment to be transported on the Khaf-Herat railway line via the Shamtig border crossing.
This was widely reported in Iranian and Afghan media news outlets.
It was reported at the time that a second batch is expected to travel by rail to Afghanistan later this month (which presumably was the Russian diesal shipment and explained above). According to the social media channel of DotOne, the holding company which owns Avant Rail, in the future, this railway line plans to link further with China and seeks to boost Iranian trade relations with Beijing. The reported owner of DotOne, is a controversial Iranian businessman called Babak Zanjani.
On 27 October, on social media platform, X, Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works, said that 1,120 tonnes of diesel had entered Afghanistan through the Khaf–Herat rail link for the first time.
It is an interesting development for Iran and Russia’s transport cooperation, amid Tehran’s simultaneous efforts to build supply lines to bypass Russia. It suggests that since the Israel-Iran war earlier this year where Russia refrained from providing military support, Tehran has been cautious in putting so much weight on Moscow. While geopolitical relationships are rarely straightforward, the Sino-Eurasia-Afghan supply chain architecture has been an appealing balancing tactic for Iran.
For instance, in May 2025, Iran launched its first-ever direct railway connection to China, the country’s first rail link to Asia that does not rely on transhipment through seaports vulnerable to the US sanctions or through Russia. This route reduces Iranian export vulnerability to the US Navy’s threat to seaborne cargo. The first trial run carried solar panels but according to Iranian officials, the railway line will be used to transport Iranian oil to China.
The rail route runs from the Iranian city of Tehran, at the Aprin dry port, then crosses the border to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan before entering western China, in the city of Xian. This railway route forms part of the broader China-Central Asia-West Asia corridor under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to customs data, Iran’s oil trade with China has increased and nearly 90% of Iranian oil shipments are now believed to go to China, although much of it through ship-to-ship transfers and offshore storage. But long term plans are to shift to railway transportation, according to Iranian state media outlets.
On 3 November 2025, a few days before the first Russian diesel shipment to Afghanistan via the Iranian railway, Bakhtar News Agency, an Afghan state-run news agency, reported that construction had begun on an oil depot at the Roznak railway station in Herat province (Afghanistan) to facilitate the unloading, storage, and distribution of petroleum products.
The first phase of the oil depot will be designed to store 1,000 tonnes of diesel fuel and gasoline. According to the news report, the project aims to help factories, vehicles, and residents of Herat province against potential fuel shortages.