Turkish and Iranian truck traffic across the border between the two countries has returned to normal, an Iranian transport official has announced, although a dispute over transit fees remains unresolved and could erupt again at any time.
At some points in the last nine months, as many as 1,200 trucks were lined up waiting at the border, said Mohammad Javad Atrchian, director general of Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.
In recent years, Iran had been charging a $750 transit fee for trucks entering the country from Turkey to compensate for cheaper fuel prices in Iran, while the Iranian trucks entered Turkey free of charge. At $1.47 a liter currently, Turkish fuel is eight times the price of Iranian fuel.
Last October 10, Turkey introduced a border-crossing fee for Iranian trucks apparently to encourage the Islamic Republic to reduce the transit fee it charged. But Iran responded by instead doubling the fee.
On December 1, Iran also set a new regulation ordering border officials to seal the fuel tanks of Turkish trucks at the border so they could not stock up on cheap Iranian fuel._ But that also meant they could not drive very far into Iran.
Following countermoves on both sides, a crossing fee per truck of $1,500 was imposed for trucks by both sides. And Iran stopped sealing tanks, but imposed a fee on any fuel remaining in the tanks of Turkish trucks leaving Iran.
Two weeks after those regulations came into force, Atrchian said Iran offered to discontinue the implementation of the new regulation, and that it would be suspended until a comprehensive agreement was achieved on the issue, which is where matters stand now.
“Right now, Turkish and Iranian trucks are on the move again and 300 to 400 trucks pass the Iran-Turkey border on a daily basis,” Atrchian announced, stressing that “no new agreements have been reached regarding the dispute over transit fees,” the economic daily Eqtesad reported.
Since this is what Turkey is assumed to have wanted from the beginning, it really has no incentive to negotiate.