Hundreds of trucks jam Turkiye-Iran border crossing as US blockade pushes trade overland

…sales that largely keep the economy alive. It’s the latest test of Iran’s endurance. Frustrated Iranian truck drivers spoke to The Associated Press at the Turkiye border crossing, where lines now stretch for miles. “ I’ve been driving through this border gate for 15 years. I’ve never had to wait as long as now ,” said Muhammed Riza Shiri, 55, who had waited four days to carry his load of rubber into Iran. “We had to wait at the end of a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) line. We used to wait, maximum, for three days here. Because of…

…had to wait at the end of a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) line. We used to wait, maximum, for three days here. Because of the war, the waiting times exceed five days.” Iran accuses the US of trying to weaken the country. “ They are trying to create difficulties wherever they can, and they are holding nothing back. They are closing off routes, shutting down air routes, blocking land routes and trying to fuel internal divisions ,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday. Iran insists the pressure will not change its stance in negotiations with Washington. Tehran wants the U.S. blockade to end before it allows commercial shipping to flow again…

…in connecting with Europe and Asia. Drivers carry goods that are vital to Iran’s petrochemical and other manufacturing that were badly damaged by U.S. and Israeli strikes. But the land crossings are badly strained. “ Logistics, capacities of these borders are limited. Regulations, border controls, corruption, all these things would make the transit much more difficult and time-consuming ,” Farzanegan said. Overland trade “would not basically be able to substitute or compensate for the blockade.” At Turkiye’s Gürbulak border, truck waiting times have more than quadrupled since the war began, according…

…quadrupled since the war began, according to data from the International Transporters Association, which represents Turkiye’s international logistics sector. One Iranian official said the number of trucks has shot up. “ Instead of 200 trucks, there are 1,200 trucks at the border, and the destination country does not have the capacity to accept this number of trucks ,” Amir Roshanbakhsh Ghanbari, deputy head for a government agency that promotes Iranian trade, said in an interview with a semiofficial news outlet, ILNA. Ghanbari blamed the border backup in part on neighboring…

…silent in the face of this increased pressure on drivers.” Akbar Sadigi, 42, an Iranian truck driver from Tabriz waiting at the crossing, said longer waiting times have cut his twice-monthly trips to once a month. “ I make half of what I used to make because of this ,” he said. Fuel prices for his truck have risen by 25% in Iran since his last trip, he added. “Some Turkish drivers can bribe and get ahead of the line. Our money is worth nothing here. We can’t do that,” Sadigi said.…

…on Feb. 28. Weeks before that, plummeting economic conditions had sparked anti-government protests that led to a deadly crackdown. Officials in Iran and its neighbors said they are trying to speed up border crossings. “ The Turkish customs have deceased the waiting times of vehicles coming from Iran from 30 to 22 days by increasing the number of lanes at fuel measurement stations and doubling X-ray scanning machines ,” Ersin Simsek, Gürbulak representative of the International Transporters Association, said in a phone interview. And at the border between Iran and Pakistan, drivers also have reported delays. Iranian Interior…