Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan have signed a joint agreement aimed at strengthening regional connectivity and facilitating international transit and road freight cooperation among the three countries.

According to the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe, the agreement was signed following a trilateral meeting held in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, where officials discussed ways to expand regional transport and economic cooperation.

The agreement is designed to enhance cross-border freight transportation, facilitate international transit, strengthen economic ties and promote closer coordination in the field of international road transport.

The document was signed by Reza Akbari, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and head of the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, Shayesteh Saeedmoradzadeh, Deputy Minister of Transport of Tajikistan, and Yar Mohammad Ramazan, Director General of Legal Affairs and Agreements at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

Officials said the agreement reflects the three countries’ shared commitment to improving regional connectivity, expanding trade and making more effective use of existing transit corridors.

The initiative is expected to support greater economic cooperation, facilitate the movement of goods and strengthen Afghanistan’s role as a key transit link between Central and South Asia.

Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan have held trilateral talks aimed at expanding cooperation in transit and road freight transportation as the three countries seek to strengthen regional connectivity and boost trade.

According to Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, officials from the three countries met in the northeastern city of Mashhad, the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province, on July 14 and 15.

The discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in cross-border road freight transport, activating regional transit corridors, increasing trade exchanges and promoting broader economic cooperation.

The ministry said the initiative could facilitate international trade, strengthen regional connectivity and support sustainable economic development across the region.

It added that the meeting marked an important step toward making better use of the three countries’ shared transit potential, strengthening regional partnerships, enhancing the region’s role in international transport corridors and expanding transit infrastructure.

According to an analysis by Trend, the trilateral meeting could pave the way for the development of new logistics routes linking the three countries. The report said the initiative aligns with Iran’s broader strategy of strengthening connectivity with Central Asia and maximizing its role as a regional transit hub.

In recent years, Iran has expanded investment in key transport projects, including the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Chabahar Port, eastern border crossings and railway infrastructure. Increased freight cooperation with Afghanistan and Tajikistan is expected to improve access to Central Asian markets while contributing to higher regional trade and transit revenues.

Kazakhstan has reached agreements to import metallurgical raw materials from Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan as part of efforts to ensure a stable supply for the country’s metals industry, Kazakh Minister of Industry and Construction Yersaiyn Nagaspayev announced on Tuesday.

Speaking at a government meeting, Nagaspayev said the new import agreements are intended to strengthen raw material supplies to Kazakhstan’s metallurgical plants after production in the sector slowed during the first half of 2026.

According to the minister, metallurgical output reached 97.3 percent of planned levels in the first six months of the year. He attributed the slowdown to scheduled maintenance at industrial facilities and the gradual depletion of Kazakhstan’s domestic mineral resource base.

Despite those challenges, Nagaspayev said the sector’s performance improved by 1.8 percent compared with the first five months of the year, largely due to measures aimed at securing reliable supplies of raw materials.

He said domestic producers have increased deliveries of copper, zinc and gold-bearing ores to processing plants, while shipments of zinc concentrate have resumed. In addition, Kazakhstan has finalized agreements to import raw materials from Afghanistan and neighbouring Kyrgyzstan to support the country’s metallurgical industry.

The move highlights Afghanistan’s growing role as a regional supplier of mineral resources. The country is believed to possess significant untapped deposits of copper, iron ore, lithium and a range of other strategic minerals, attracting increasing interest from neighbouring countries seeking to diversify supply chains and strengthen regional trade.