The blogosphere is abuzz with news that Iran’s port on the Gulf of Oman, Chabahar, now has a highway link to Afghanistan. Sound like old news? It kind of is, at least in the sense of this not coming from nowhere. Our own Kayumars Turkestani wrote about this in August of 2007:
A port outside of the Persian Gulf makes sense from a strategic and logistical viewpoint for Iran. The port of Chabahar was part of a plan to develop transportation infrastructure in Iran’s east for many years. Initially put in hold in 1984 it was revived in 2002 with Indian help. And the financing and engineering assistance from India is not limited to the port. India, wishing to bypass Pakistan, is also cooperating on a highway system that leads from the port into Afghanistan as well as a planned railroad to Afghanistan. Iranian officials state that they wish to have Bandar Abbas remain as the port for Russian and European trade and have Chabahar become the port for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia. Iran already has good relations with everybody along the route leading north (including the local “warlords”) into Tajikistan. And significantly, it is in Tajikistan where Iran has already been financing several transport projects including the Anzob tunnel. And luckily for the Iranians, the U.S. constructed a bridge over the Amu Darya that fits in nicely with the Chabahar to Khojent route.
Oh yes. His analysis remains insightful, and is worth reading in full. My only question: what about Afghanistan’s OTHER supply route: Churchill, Manitoba? Especially now that Russia is letting us transit supplies? Nah. That can’t matter now.
This post was written by...
Joshua Foust – author of 1801 posts on Registan.net.
Joshua Foust is a Fellow at the American Security Project and the author of Afghanistan Journal: Selections from Registan.net. His research focuses primarily on Central and South Asia. Joshua is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a columnist for PBS Need to Know. Joshua appears regularly on the BBC World News, Aljazeera, and international public radio. Joshua is also a regular contributor to Foreign Policy’s AfPak Channel, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Reuters, and the Christian Science Monitor. Follow him on twitter: @joshuafoust
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{ 1 comment }
It’s a conspiracy man! OmniTRAX, an American company, owns the rail line to Churchill plus the port. So basically, OmniTRAX is controlling the war in Afghanistan from its offices in Colorado. And where’s Dick Cheney from? Somewhere near Colorado! Yeah….
Also, Kayumars Turkistani is a handsome devil. You forgot to mention that.