Iran turns to Pakistan land corridor as US naval pressure disrupts Gulf trade
As US naval pressure disrupts Iran's access to the Arabian Gulf, Tehran is turning east.
New overland trade routes with Pakistan are allowing goods destined for the Islamic Republic to bypass a US blockade now entering its fifth week, preserving Iran's access to regional markets and potentially opening a new commercial pathway towards Central Asia.
Last month, Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce issued a dry, technical and easy-to-miss regulatory order known as SRO 691, which designated six transit routes for cargo arriving in Iran from third countries through Pakistani territory.
Reviving a project that had remained dormant for nearly two decades, the Pakistani government said the six corridors will connect Pakistan's ports of Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar with the Iranian border crossings of Gabd and Taftan through Balochistan.
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Iranian cargo trucks cross into the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, Balochistan province on 18 June 2025 (Banaras Khan/AFP)