Iraqi trucks reach Turkmenistan for the first time under TIR system

Iraqi trucks ran their first TIR-system trip all the way to Turkmenistan, according to a Ministry of Transport statement. A truck run by state-owned General Company for Land Transport departed Iraq’s Arar crossing on the Saudi border, transiting through Iran to reach the Incheh Borun crossing on the Iran-Turkmenistan frontier — the furthest an Iraqi carrier has run since the country switched on TIR last year.

REFRESHER- Iraq joined the International Road Transport Union in March of last year — a move expected to reduce transport times by 80% and cut costs of transporting goods by around 38%. The TIR system aims to pave the way for a transnational trucking route that connects the Arabian Gulf from Iraq’s Umm Qasr port with the Mediterranean through Turkey’s Mersin port.