On Christmas Eve, Afghan-istan’s vice president came to Iran and said he was told the blockade had been ended. Only about 15 trucks were allowed through each day, however.
Early in January, Iranian officials said the blockade had ended, but only about 40 trucks a day entered Iran after that.
Late in the month, Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan said the entire backlog of tankers would be eliminated in four days. But Mohammad Qorban Haqju, president of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce said that in the following week, the passage of tankers was reduced to an average of 15 per day, although Deputy Commerce Minister Mohammad Sharif Sharifi said the average remained at 40 a day. Still, Sharifi said that as of last Saturday, “The border still is not fully open.”
Two Afghan cabinet ministers were in Tehran Saturday to plead for a full reopening. After they met with Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi, PressTV quoted Salehi as saying Tehran was eager to expand ties with Afghanistan. But the story said nothing at all about the fuel blockade.
On Monday, Iran said it was prepared to provide Afghanistan with 2 million liters of gas oil daily. The Tabnak news website said the start of that delivery “was postponed to a later time for further study.”