Iran has announced the completion of the 730 km Chabahar-Zahedan railway project. Work on the project began in 2020, and it aligns with the country’s strategy to expand regional transport corridors, which is one of the priorities of Iran's 14th government.
The new transport line will provide rail access to Chabahar, which is Iran's only deep-sea port. The launch of the railway serves the geo-economic interests of several foreign policy actors, most notably India. New Delhi is investing in the port’s infrastructure and is a signatory to the 2016 Chabahar Agreement. The long-term objective of this agreement is to ensure India's transport connectivity with Central Asia via Afghanistan. Construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway is seen as a vital step towards achieving this goal.
The railway line is intended to strengthen Iran’s position in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), as it will extend to Mashhad, from where it can branch out toward both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan via Turkmenistan.
Establishing a direct rail link between southern and northern Iran via the Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad route creates significant opportunities for another one of Iran’s strategic initiatives: the Khaf-Herat Railway, which connects Iran to Afghanistan. This corridor is already operational for cross-border freight transport. During the 2025–2026 financial year, over 640,000 tons of freight were transported via this route, several times more than in the previous period. Amid the ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kabul is placing greater hope in the Khaf-Herat line, viewing it as a vital link to global markets.
With direct involvement from Iranian companies, the Afghan government is planning to construct a railway line from Herat to Mazar-i-Sharif. This will provide Iran, as well as the Gulf states and Türkiye, with an alternative route to the Eurasian market via Uzbekistan. At the same time, it should be emphasized that Ankara is a third party to the agreement for the joint construction of a railway to Mazar-i-Sharif. This agreement was signed in October 2025 during the 36th Regional Meeting of the International Union of Railways in Istanbul.
The Herat-Mazar-i-Sharif transport line will serve as an extension of the cross-border trade route between Iran and Afghanistan, as well as being a vital part of the Afghan section of the Five Nation Railway Corridor, spanning a total distance of around 2,100 km. Designed to reach Kashgar in China, the railway uses a standard 1,435 mm gauge and crosses the borders of two Central Asian states: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In a global context, this will create a more competitive continental east-west corridor, in which Afghanistan, alongside its northern neighbors, is set to play the role of a key connecting link.
Uzbekistan has the potential to join the Five Nation Railway Corridor project via a spur extending into Tajikistan through the Sughd section. This would allow the route to bypass the congested transport hub in Tashkent, reducing the distance to Afghanistan by several hundred kilometers.
* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.
