Tajik Energy and Water Resources Minister Daler Juma has said that his country plans to increase imports of oil products from Iran.
He made the remarks after meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad in Tehran on August 15, where a high-level Tajik delegation was visiting to explore ways to expand imports of Iranian oil products, according to Iran’s SHANA News Agency.
Juma said the delegation’s main focus was finding ways to increase imports of petroleum products from Iran, particularly as energy challenges affect countries around the world, including Tajikistan. He added that the two sides discussed details of potential cooperation, including the types and volumes of oil products Tajikistan needs.
Juma said the volume of imports would depend on logistics and transportation capacity, adding that the issue would be assessed in several stages.
In turn, the Iranian oil minister said the two countries had agreed to explore a framework for exporting Iran’s surplus petroleum products and supplying crude oil to Tajikistan’s refineries.
Paknejad noted that several cooperation mechanisms had been proposed, and both sides agreed to establish a working group to conduct technical reviews and address outstanding issues.
“Our goal is to develop a framework for a long-term contract with Tajikistan for fuel supplies and crude oil,” he added, emphasizing that conditions were in place for implementation and a significant portion of the cooperation was already underway.
He noted that final trade volumes would depend on logistics and available capacity.
Tajikistan’s Transport Minister Azim Ibrohim said after meeting with the Iranian oil minister that about 800,000 metric tons of petroleum products are currently transported between the two countries, adding that the volume could increase significantly following the August 15 talks and the establishment of a joint working group.
“We will examine routes for transporting petroleum products,” Ibrohim said, noting that while current infrastructure can handle existing volumes, Tajikistan will hold talks with neighboring countries to expand logistics capacity and secure the infrastructure needed for larger future shipments from Iran.
On the same day, the two Tajik ministers, along with Deputy Foreign Minister Farrukh Sharifzoda and a group of Tajik business representatives, also met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss energy and transportation cooperation.
The energy talks build on a series of bilateral engagements that have gathered pace throughout 2026. On July 13, Iran’s Minister of Transport and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh, met with Tajikistan’s Deputy Minister of Transport Shayesteh Saeed Moradzadeh in Tehran to discuss the development of transportation, transit and logistics cooperation.
In February, Iran’s Industry Minister Seyed Mohammad Atabak announced a bilateral trade target of $1 billion in the near future. During a visit to Dushanbe, he secured agreement on a roadmap to accelerate existing agreements, boost private-sector involvement and strengthen technology transfer.
