A week after it issued the first warning to Iranian authorities, Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a resolution to stop all trade with thier neighbour country in protest to Iran’ s blockade of fuel trucks passing into Afghanistan.
Afghan ministry of trade and industry announced that according to Afghan laws, merchants are independent in their trade decisions and the resolution of the Afghan merchants to suspend all deals with Iran is not the official stance of the Afghan government.
Following the meeting of Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kabul today, Mohammad Ghorban Haghjou head of the Chamber told reporters that all participants in the meeting support a complete boycott of all trade relations with Iran.
Afghan minister of trade and industry reported that talks with Iran regarding the restrictions on the transit of fuel trucks have not been fruitful.
For almost two months, Iran has stopped over 1900 fuel trucks at the Iran Afghan border only allowing a few to pass through every day. This has caused a shortage of fuel in Afghanistan which gets over 40 percent of its fuel needs through the Iranian border.
Iran has expressed concern that the fuel is headed for NATO forces but Afghan authorities maintain that the fuel is purely for civilian use.
The stoppage of fuel trucks has prompted protests in Kabul and Herat in the past weeks with demonstrators gathering at the Iranian embassy and consulate chanting anti-Islamic Republic slogans and pelting the buildings with rocks and eggs.
