Exports to Qatar resumed after wartime restrictions
Iran has resumed exports to Qatar after a wartime halt, with the reopening of Qatar’s Al Ruwais customs terminal allowing shipments from Iran to restart, the head of the Iran-Qatar Joint Chamber of Commerce said.
“The resumption of maritime and logistics activity in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman has reactivated Iran’s export route to Qatar after restrictions caused by the war,” Khorshid Gazderazi said, according to ILNA.
The United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran in late February, which led to the disruption of shipping and logistics across the Persian Gulf.
Gazderazi said wartime conditions in Iran and other Persian Gulf countries had restricted logistics, maritime activity and shipping in the Persian Gulf, affecting Iran’s export markets in the region.
“This situation affected Iran’s export target markets in the Persian Gulf countries and exports to these countries, including Qatar, stopped,” he said.
Al Ruwais customs, one of the entry points for Iranian goods into Qatar, was also inactive during the period, he said.
“Given the good political relations between the two governments and the consultations that have taken place, Al Ruwais customs has resumed operations, and goods are now being exported from Bushehr and Hormozgan provinces to Qatar,” Gazderazi said.
Some of the goods being shipped include minerals and construction materials needed by Qatar. Also, given the summer season, Iranian tropical fruits, which are popular with Qatari consumers, are being continuously exported from Iranian ports to Qatar, according to him.
“There are currently no particular challenges in the export process, and trade with Qatar has returned to pre-war conditions,” Gazdrazhi said.
He said the conditions for transferring money had not changed significantly since before the war, with previous restrictions on remittances and financial transactions still in place.
Business people use exchange houses to transfer funds and receive payments from trade, he explained.
He did not specify the pre-war export volume, but data from Iran’s Customs Administration shows that in the Iranian year ending March 20, 2025, Iran exported 542,000 metric tons of goods worth $144 million to Qatar.