Pakistan reopens Gabd border crossing with Iran after weeklong trade suspension

Pakistan has reopened its border crossing with Iran at Gabd-Rimdan, restoring bilateral trade after a weeklong suspension that left trucks carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and essential food commodities stranded.

Border officials cleared commercial consignments holding a consignment note dated 16 October or earlier to cross at the Gabd-Rimdan point, known as Gate 250, in Gwadar, Dawn reported on Sunday.

Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confirmed that trade operations resumed on Saturday morning. “Pakistan has opened the border with Iran at Gabd-Rimdan this morning and allowed trucks and other vehicles to move toward Iran and Pakistan with import and export goods,” Kalmati said.

Kalmati said the restored supply chain is expected to ease a nationwide LPG shortage and reduce soaring energy and food prices across Pakistan. That easing is an expectation, not yet a reported fall in prices.

The reopening came after local administrators reviewed the security situation and deployed additional forces to protect trade convoys, following an attack earlier in the week. On Thursday, unidentified gunmen targeted the backlog of freight vehicles parked near the closed crossing, setting dozens of trucks ablaze and damaging several others.

Those trucks had been stranded since 17 October, when Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce abruptly suspended trade at both the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings. The ministry issued a memorandum withdrawing a 3 October trade order with immediate effect, without specifying a reason for the halt. Dawn’s report confirms the reopening at Gabd-Rimdan only; it does not state that Taftan has also reopened.

Sources: Dawn