Iran turns to Pakistan land corridor as US naval pressure disrupts Gulf trade

As US naval pressure disrupts Iran's access to the Arabian Gulf, Tehran is turning east.

New overland trade routes with Pakistan are allowing goods destined for the Islamic Republic to bypass a US blockade now entering its fifth week, preserving Iran's access to regional markets and potentially opening a new commercial pathway towards Central Asia.

Last month, Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce issued a dry, technical and easy-to-miss regulatory order known as SRO 691, which designated six transit routes for cargo arriving in Iran from third countries through Pakistani territory.

Reviving a project that had remained dormant for nearly two decades, the Pakistani government said the six corridors will connect Pakistan's ports of Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar with the Iranian border crossings of Gabd and Taftan through Balochistan. 

The shortest route, linking Gwadar to Gabd, would place the Iranian border within a two-to-three-hour drive, compared with up to 18 hours from Karachi.

The announcement, which offered much-needed reprieves for both Pakistan and Iran, came days after a second round of US-Iran negotiations collapsed and as American naval pressure on Iranian ports severely disrupted maritime trade. 

Reports indicated that thousands of containers bound for Iran were stranded at Karachi port, while war-risk insurance premiums near the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf surged, prompting many shipping operators to halt Iran-bound cargo.

"Iran can benefit from these corridors," Fatemeh Aman, an independent analyst specialising in Iran and South Asia, told Middle East Eye.

"The Islamic Republic can reduce some dependence on vulnerable maritime routes and maintain limited regional trade under sanctions and regional tensions."

No longer a dormant project

The legal basis for the corridor dates back to a bilateral road transport agreement signed by Iran and Pakistan in 2008 that was left dormant for years.

According to Pakistani media reports, one reason for the delay was Tehran's concern that activating the Pakistani route could strengthen Gwadar port at the expense of Chabahar, Iran's own deep-water port on the Gulf of Oman developed with Indian support.

'The routes through Pakistan may not fundamentally change Iran's economy, but they can... help reduce the pressure caused by sanctions and maritime restrictions'

That calculation, however, changed following the US-Israeli war and subsequent blockade.

After Chabahar also became affected by instability linked to the conflict, Iranian officials quietly signalled support for reviving the land corridor. 

The timing of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's visit to Islamabad where he met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir as the corridor was announced underscored the urgency behind the project.

But the corridor's significance extends beyond access to Iran itself.

Once cargo crosses into Iran through Gabd-Rimdan, it can move northwards through Iran’s road network toward Central Asia. 

Pakistani customs officials say trial shipments, including refrigerated meat cargo bound for Uzbekistan, have already moved through the route.

Mostafa Modabber, a South Asia analyst, told MEE that "the routes through Pakistan may not fundamentally change Iran's economy, but they can help Tehran preserve trade flows, maintain indirect access to regional markets and reduce part of the pressure caused by sanctions and maritime restrictions."

Bypassing maritime pressure

The corridor highlights the limits of a maritime blockade.

A US naval blockade imposed on 13 April targeted vessels seeking to reach Iranian ports. But goods arriving at Pakistani ports from China and other countries can be unloaded outside Iranian jurisdiction and transported overland by truck into Iran, avoiding both Iranian shipping lanes and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials have acknowledged that Tehran is increasingly relying on land routes through Pakistan, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the Caspian Sea, to maintain imports.

The arrangement also operates in legally ambiguous territory. Pakistan does not formally enforce US sanctions on Iran, while parts of the sanctions framework still permit some non-US trade with Iran provided sanctioned entities are avoided.

Washington has not publicly objected to the corridor so far. Asked about the issue, US President Donald Trump said only that he "knows everything about it," without elaborating.

Modabber said the corridor reflects wartime adaptation rather than a lasting economic transformation.

"Iran is under severe economic and commercial pressure, and in such conditions any formal or informal trade corridor can become strategically important," he said.

"These land routes are less a major economic transformation for Iran than a form of economic breathing space under pressure."

"Pakistan itself suffers from weak transport infrastructure, corruption inside parts of the customs system, insecurity in border regions and the influence of informal smuggling networks," he said. 

"Pakistan is also unlikely to openly risk confrontation with Washington if the United States decides to intensify pressure on Iran-related trade."

Iran's wider regional ambitions

Iranian officials have increasingly promoted the country as a regional transit hub linking the Persian Gulf to Central Asia and Russia.

On 26 April, Reza Akbari, the head of Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said more than 16.6 million tonnes of goods had transited through Iran's land borders during the previous Iranian calendar year.

The Pakistan corridor could reinforce that strategy by linking Iran more directly with two major regional trade networks: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which connects Iran with Russia and India.

For China, which remains one of Iran's main trading partners, the route offers a way to sustain supply chains without relying entirely on maritime routes vulnerable to US naval pressure.

'These routes are more a tool of adaptation than a solution to Iran's broader economic challenges'

Aman, said the corridor may improve Iran's flexibility but should not be overstated.

"These routes are more a tool of adaptation than a solution to Iran's broader economic challenges," she said.

"For Iran, these routes are mainly about economic resilience and diversification. They can support border trade, regional commerce and alternative transit during periods of pressure in the Persian Gulf," she said.

"But land routes cannot match the scale, speed or profitability of maritime trade. They may reduce vulnerability at the margins, but they are unlikely to fundamentally change Iran’s broader economic challenges under sanctions and conflict conditions."

Aman also noted that Pakistan's balancing strategy creates uncertainty over how far the corridor can develop.

"Islamabad faces economic constraints of its own and must balance relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and the United States," she said.

Pakistan's delicate balancing act

For Pakistan, the corridor presents both economic opportunity and political risk.

Islamabad has long sought to position itself as a transit hub connecting South Asia with Central Asia, but instability in Afghanistan and border closures have repeatedly undermined those ambitions.

The Iran corridor could strengthen the commercial case for Gwadar port and support broader Chinese-backed infrastructure projects linked to CPEC.

But deeper trade ties with Iran also carry financial risks. Pakistani banks and logistics firms involved in Iran-bound cargo could potentially face US secondary sanctions if Washington concludes the corridor is facilitating sanctions evasion.

Pakistan's infrastructure in Balochistan also remains underdeveloped, customs coordination is still limited and the prospect of stronger US financial pressure has not disappeared.

Yet the corridor also reflects a broader regional shift already under way.

As pressure on the Strait of Hormuz increases, Iran is seeking alternatives to its traditional maritime lifelines. Pakistan, despite its own economic and political constraints, increasingly sees Iran as a potentially important westward trade route.

China, meanwhile, is watching the emergence of a corridor that could reduce dependence on vulnerable Gulf shipping lanes.

The thousands of containers stranded in Karachi may appear a small detail in a wider conflict. But they also signal how quickly regional trade routes can adapt when traditional pathways become contested.