Damage to Chabahar Port Threatens Key Trade Route for Afghanistan Amid Regional Turmoil

Recent U.S. military strikes on Iranian soil have dealt a heavy blow to operations at Chabahar Port a critical alternative trade gateway for Afghanistan just as the country grapples with severe transit restrictions imposed by neighboring Pakistan. The strikes, which targeted multiple port facilities along Iran’s southern coast, have raised urgent concerns about the reliability of Afghanistan’s maritime lifelines and the broader stability of regional supply chains.

According to Indian media reports, the U.S. strikes early Thursday caused significant damage to the vessel traffic control tower at Chabahar, a sophisticated navigation facility essential for coordinating safe ship movements. This has dealt a sharp setback to India’s long-term strategic vision of using Chabahar as a direct overland-and-sea corridor to access Afghanistan and Central Asia bypassing Pakistan entirely. Since India committed over $500 million in investments to develop the port in 2016, Chabahar has evolved from a modest fishing harbor into a strategic transit hub linking South Asia with the landlocked markets of Afghanistan and the broader Eurasian region.

Major Indian newspapers, including The Times of India and Navbharat Times, characterized the strikes as a severe blow to New Delhi’s regional trade ambitions. They noted that the disruption not only hampers India’s existing trade flows but also jeopardizes future infrastructure projects and energy partnerships that depend on the port’s operational continuity. Some analysts fear that if repairs are delayed, India could lose its competitive edge against Chinese-backed Gwadar Port in Pakistan, just 80 kilometers away.

However, the immediate impact on Afghanistan’s direct trade through Chabahar may be more contained than initially feared, according to Abdul Hadi Farhang, Afghanistan’s former commercial attaché in Iran. Speaking to local media, Farhang explained that while the port has immense symbolic and strategic value, Afghanistan’s actual trade volume passing through Chabahar remains relatively modest compared to its primary maritime gateway. “The Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantari terminals, as well as the vessel guidance tower at Chabahar, were indeed targeted,” Farhang confirmed. “But because Chabahar accounts for only a limited share of Afghanistan’s overall trade, the far greater concern is Bandar Abbas the main port through which the overwhelming majority of Afghan imports and exports flow.”

Bandar Abbas, Iran’s largest and busiest port, handles roughly 80–85 percent of Afghanistan’s overseas cargo, including essential commodities like wheat, cooking oil, construction materials, and fuel. Any prolonged disruption there could trigger immediate shortages, price volatility, and inflationary pressures inside Afghanistan, where the economy is already fragile after years of conflict and isolation.

The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment echoed these fears, emphasizing that while Chabahar serves as a strategically vital alternative route especially for perishable goods and high-value exports it cannot yet replace Bandar Abbas in scale. The Chamber has urgently called on both Iranian and U.S. authorities to clarify the extent of the damage and expedite repairs, warning that even a temporary closure of either port would devastate Afghan traders already operating on thin margins.

According to the latest World Bank trade data, Afghanistan exported goods worth $79.2 million in May alone, with India accounting for 34 percent of those exports making it the country’s single largest destination. Key Afghan exports to India include dried fruits, saffron, medicinal herbs, and precious stones, all of which rely heavily on timely maritime transit. Economic analyst Abdul Zohour Madbar underscored that Chabahar’s importance extends well beyond India. “The port gives Afghanistan direct access not only to Indian markets but also to Gulf Cooperation Council countries, East African nations, and Southeast Asian economies,” Madbar said. “Diversifying trade routes through Chabahar reduces Afghanistan’s dependence on any single neighbor and enhances its bargaining position in regional diplomacy.”

The Taliban administration has repeatedly urged Afghan traders to pivot away from Pakistani transit routes, citing deteriorating political relations, arbitrary tariff hikes, and frequent border closures. In November 2025, Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy chief minister for economic affairs, publicly called on merchants to shift their exports and imports to alternative corridors including Chabahar, the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali, and even air cargo options as ties with Islamabad reached a new low.

That call has taken on new urgency given the current crisis. For approximately nine months, major trade and transit routes through Pakistan including the vital Wagah land border crossing and Karachi’s sprawling port facilities have remained largely inaccessible to Afghan commercial traffic. The closures stem from a toxic mix of cross-border militant attacks, tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, and Islamabad’s tightening security protocols, which have effectively severed Afghanistan’s most traditional and cost-effective trade lifeline.

With Pakistan’s routes severely restricted and Chabahar now shrouded in uncertainty, Afghan traders find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. Many are scrambling to reroute goods through Oman’s Port of Salalah or Dubai’s Jebel Ali, but these alternatives add significant time and freight costs up to 30–40 percent higher than traditional routes eroding Afghan exporters’ competitiveness in price-sensitive markets.

As of now, neither Iranian authorities nor U.S. military officials have released a detailed assessment of the full extent of the damage to Chabahar’s facilities, nor have they provided a timeline for when normal operations might resume. Iranian port officials have reportedly deployed emergency repair crews, but early estimates suggest that restoring full vessel-tracking and navigation capabilities could take weeks, if not months, depending on the availability of specialized spare parts and international technical support both complicated by ongoing sanctions.

For Afghanistan, already reeling from humanitarian challenges and economic stagnation, the port strikes represent yet another external shock threatening to isolate the country further from global commerce. Without swift diplomatic intervention or alternative arrangements, the nation risks sliding deeper into trade paralysis, with cascading effects on employment, food security, and government revenue. The coming weeks will be critical in determining whether Chabahar can be salvaged as a viable corridor or whether Afghanistan must once again redraw its trade map under duress.

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