The activation of Iran's transport diplomacy with Central Asia has become one of the factors contributing to a new stage of aggression initiated by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Amid increasing international economic sanctions, Iran continues to strengthen its position in the field of transit transportation, which is linked to the growing importance of the land corridors "East – West" and "North – South." This strategy is most noticeable in the context of the Southern Corridor to Europe, which involves almost all Central Asian states and China, as reported by the online magazine "Military-Political Analytics."
In recent years, Central Asia has become a key player in the transformation of the transport architecture of Eurasia, facilitating the development of sustainable trade routes through Iran to Western and Southern Asia, as well as Europe. Analyst from Uzbekistan Nargiza Umarova notes that this trend aligns with China's "Belt and Road" initiative, which Iran joined in 2021 by signing a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement with Beijing.
China's interest in the southern branch of the "New Silk Road" has increased against the backdrop of tensions in the maritime sphere and the conflict in Ukraine, which have made the Northern Corridor through Russia and Belarus less accessible. This circumstance has forced Beijing to redirect some cargo towards continental routes. Alternative multimodal transport via the Caspian and Black Seas is now becoming more attractive. In 2024, the volume of cargo transported via the Middle Corridor exceeded 27,000 containers, which is 25 times higher than the figures for 2023. Beijing aims to develop the Southern transit route for both economic and geopolitical reasons.
Considering that the EU is China's second-largest trading partner, the volume of mutual trade between them reached $762 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $850 billion in 2025. Given that high-tech goods dominate Chinese exports to the EU, Beijing prefers container transport for land logistics, and the transit corridor through Iran is ideally suited for this purpose. The completion of the construction of the railway from China to Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan and the railway line from Iran's Marand to Cheshmeh-Sorayi, and further to the Turkish border, is expected to make this corridor monomodal, eliminating the need for ferry crossings over Lake Van in Turkey.
In 2025, Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced a project to build nine transit railway corridors with a total length of 17,000 kilometers, costing over $10 billion. Upon completion of these works, Iran's railway network is expected to be able to transport up to 60 million tons of cargo per year. Some of these projects, including the 200-kilometer Marand – Cheshmeh-Sorayi railway, are part of the Southern railway corridor and aim to reduce the distance between East and West.
In a situation where the US is granting its exclusive rights to develop the Zangezur corridor, dubbed "Trump's Route to International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP), China is beginning to more actively support the Southern Corridor through Iran. The establishment of the TRIPP Development Company joint venture, where the US will own 74% of the shares, may be perceived by Beijing as an attempt by Washington to strengthen its influence over cargo transportation along the Middle Corridor. To mitigate this risk, China needs reliable transport routes bypassing the Caspian Sea.
China is also building a railway terminal in Serakhs, on the border with Turkmenistan, which should accelerate container transport along the route China – Central Asia – Iran – Turkey – EU and through the Persian Gulf. In August 2025, Iranian authorities reported that construction had already surpassed the halfway mark.
Additionally, Beijing and Tehran have agreed on the electrification of a 1,000-kilometer railway section from Serakhs to Razi on the border with Turkey, which will allow tripling the cargo turnover to 15 million tons per year.
Iran and Turkmenistan also plan to expand the railway tracks of 1435 and 1520 mm between the stations in Serakhs to increase the capacity of border crossings. The main goal is to raise the volume of cross-border cargo transportation to 20 million tons per year, including 6 million tons by rail. Both countries reaffirm their commitment to strengthening the Southern railway corridor westward, as well as the multimodal corridor Central Asia – Persian Gulf, which was initiated in 2016 under the Ashgabat Agreement between Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Oman.
Uzbekistan is actively working on diversifying trade flows and establishing effective transport links with global markets, which has spurred the development of the southern branch of the East – West transit corridor. In 2022, Tashkent, together with Ankara, organized freight railway transport along the route Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey. This corridor, with a possible extension to the EU, has become the fastest and most efficient option for bilateral export and import supplies.
Tashkent views the Southern Corridor, whose capacity is currently limited to 10 million tons per year, as a potential driver of economic growth, aiming for a significant increase in the export of transport services. This is linked to the completion of the construction of the railway from China to Kyrgyzstan, scheduled for 2030. Integration with Iran's railway network within the framework of a unified transport space of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will reduce the route from East Asia to Europe by 900 kilometers and shorten delivery times by seven to eight days.
The Southern railway corridor is expected to become the shortest monomodal route between economically developed regions. Concurrently, the construction of an international highway connecting China with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is planned, which will increase cargo flows towards Iran – Turkey and promote the development of the multimodal corridor China – Tajikistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey / EU. The pilot implementation of this project is expected to begin in 2026.
At the same time, work is underway to create railway corridors China – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey / EU and China – Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey / EU. The development of these routes is coordinated through regular consultations between the railway authorities of the six participating countries. In 2025, two meetings were held, the first of which took place in Tehran in May. After that, China sent its first cargo train from Xi'an to Aprin, Iran's largest land port, via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This route reduces delivery time to 15 days, which is twice as fast as maritime transport. By the end of 2025, 40 cargo trains had been sent from China to Iran, a significant increase compared to 7 over the previous seven years. These events are significant not only for trade between China and Iran but also contribute to improving transport communication between East Asia and Europe.
On August 2, 2025, another round of negotiations took place in Beijing between the heads of railway companies from Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey regarding the operation of the southern branch of the "East – West" corridor. As a result of the May meeting, the parties agreed on a preliminary agreement to establish unified tariffs for transportation along the railway route China – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey/EU, as well as measures to increase cargo volumes, including standardized delivery times and simplification of procedures.
Central Asian countries seek to use Iranian transit not only for access to Turkey and Europe but also for reaching the Indian Ocean through Iran's southern ports – Chabahar and Bandar Abbas. In 2023, Uzbekistan announced plans to build a terminal and warehouses at the Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar. In 2025, Kazakhstan also announced its intention to create a transport and logistics terminal at the Shahid Rajaei seaport, part of the Bandar Abbas port. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are also actively developing transport cooperation with Tehran, aiming to ensure access to Iranian maritime infrastructure through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. These events highlight the accelerated expansion of multimodal transport corridors along the north-south axis and the increasing significance of Central Asia in global logistics.
Cooperation between Central Asia and Iran, which has access to the ocean and developed transport infrastructure, is becoming increasingly important. Despite international sanctions, the countries of the region are adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach in their relations with Iran, actively developing transport diplomacy to strengthen their transit capabilities. The main task for the future is to jointly eliminate bottlenecks in the Southern transit corridor, which will require harmonization of transport policies, legislation, and standards. It is also necessary to create unified transport documentation and a coordinating body to align the operations of railway administrations along the entire route.
Equally important is the development of a unified approach to the conflict situation surrounding Iran, which threatens the prospects of regional transport projects. Central Asian states must clearly define and advocate their interests in relations with Western partners, including the US, to achieve favorable conditions for the development of trans-Iranian routes, Umarova believes. However, it is evident that the initiators of aggression against Iran did not intend to consider the interests of either Tashkent, Astana, or other countries.
