The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to widen agricultural trade and joint investment with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) states, a deputy agriculture minister told the bloc's farm-policy council on August 17, Russian and Iranian media reported. 

The push by Iran to boost imports from its northern neighbours comes as a US naval blockade of Iranian ports chokes its established trade routes to India and beyond. Traditionally, Iran was a major buyer of Brazilian beef and chicken. Still, with the US Navy continuing to sit outside the Strait of Hormuz, traditional supplies appear to be in jeopardy and that is forcing the Pezeshkian administration to unlock its connections further north.

Tehran's latest pitch points to Iran again leaning harder on its northern and Central Asian neighbours for food trade and supply security, a redirection given fresh urgency by the blockade Washington reimposed in early August. In recent days, several meetings with Armenia, Tajikistan and other Central Asian and Caucasian countries have shown the pivot in real time as food prices in Tehran continue to creep up.

Iranian Akbar Fathi, deputy minister of agriculture jihad for planning and economic affairs, told the seventh meeting of the EEU agro-industrial policy council in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that closer cooperation could expand trade ties, develop joint investment and open new markets for farm produce, according to the agriculture ministry.

Fathi pointed to Iranian capacity in agriculture, food processing, greenhouses, machinery, and halal production, and called for identifying member states' market openings, removing trade barriers, strengthening private-sector links and building mechanisms to lift farm exports and imports.

He said optimal use of production factors and resources, above all land, along with processing industries, higher added value, lower waste and complete value chains, offered scope for the agro-industrial sector.

Regulatory frameworks, financing support and technical and commercial advice could expand private agribusiness, he added in a bid to lock in supply contracts to ride out the US aggression to the south.

Fathi pointed to EEU member states' growing potential, including extra-territorial farmland and production, and stressed "off-territory cultivation" and joint investment. This suggestion is not the first time for Iran, which has leaned on countries such as Kazakhstan in recent decades for out-of-country production. 

Joint production projects in countries with the right potential could secure stable supplies of produce and inputs while drawing in the private sector, he said.

He said Iran was ready to develop bilateral and multilateral cooperation with EEU members on trade, investment, technology transfer and farm value chains, and called for stronger agricultural diplomacy and continued specialised dialogue in the region.

Fathi said halal recognition (meaning beef and lamb production) within the EEU opened access to member markets and to world markets. All Iranian agricultural and food output was produced and supplied in halal form, he said, adding that demand for it on global markets was rising.

That meeting was followed by Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadeq calling for speeding up and operationalising cooperation with fellow Persian-speaking Tajikistan in rail, road, air, port and logistics sectors.

Speaking at a meeting with Tajik Minister of Transport Azim Ibrohim and Minister of Energy and Water Resources Dalir Jum’a in the Iranian capital, she announced that the Chabahar-Zahedan railroad link would become operational within the next three months, noting that the track is now complete, IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency reported on August 17.

The minister added Chabahar could help boost Tajikistan’s logistics hub and provide it with access to open waters, adding that Iran welcomes Tajik investment in Chabahar Port.

The minister also described the Aprin dry port near Tehran as an important opportunity for cooperation and proposed that Tajik officials visit the facility. 

The minister also pressed her Tajik counterparts to officialise the Iran-Tajikistan-China railway route which in theory would bring supplies from China to the Iranian market. In the context of agri-imports from China, Iran has purchased several types of goods including garlic, chilis and others via  the land route previously.