Caspian cooperation: Kazakhstan moves closer to Iran

The official visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is taking place in the capital of Kazakhstan on December 10-11. One of the main topics of the negotiations is to increase trade turnover to $3 billion. Astana and Tehran are actively developing bilateral relations, working together to expand transport and logistics cooperation, in particular, the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan–Iran railway line and the transport and logistics center in the port of Bandar Abbas. However, the recent decision of Kazakhstan to join the "Abraham Agreements", which Tehran regards as nothing but a threat, may overshadow the interaction. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Have you been visiting often

"Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to hold high-level talks, during which issues of further strengthening Kazakh-Iranian cooperation in trade, economic, transport, logistics, cultural and humanitarian spheres will be discussed," the presidential administration of Kazakhstan said in a statement.

Since the early 90s, the Presidents of both countries have made more than 15 state visits. Especially against this background, the trip of Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in June 2022 stands out, following which the parties signed nine documents that determined the vector of bilateral cooperation for a long time.

In particular, Iran and Kazakhstan have agreed to increase bilateral trade. To achieve a mutual trade turnover of up to $3 billion, the countries introduced a visa-free regime for up to 14 days, and also concluded various commercial agreements.

In addition, they launched the first container train on the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey route and established a joint chamber of commerce. Over 650 companies with Iranian participation are registered in Kazakhstan.

According to the media of Kazakhstan, in the first nine months of 2025, the trade turnover between the countries increased by almost 45%, reaching $310.8 million. This was mainly due to a moderate decrease in Iranian imports and a threefold increase in Kazakh exports.

A key joint project

One of the key regional projects for Iran and Kazakhstan is the North-South pipeline, linking Central Asia with the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The key hubs of the route are the Kazakh port of Aktau and the Iranian Bandar Abbas.

Compared to traditional sea routes, this route makes it possible to reduce the delivery time of goods by almost half.

Last year, together with Russia and Turkmenistan, the two countries signed a roadmap for the development of the eastern branch of the corridor for 2024-2025. It is planned that by 2027, the route's capacity will increase to 15 million tons per year by 2027, and to 20 million tons by 2030.

In the last few years, Tehran and Astana have fully launched the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway. The parties plan to accelerate decision—making on increasing the capacity of the Ina—Bereket-Gorgan railway line, agreeing transit tariffs and developing container services to expand cargo flows next year.

Iran has recently become actively involved in Eurasian integration: earlier this year, Tehran received observer status in the European Economic Union (EAEU), and in May of the same year, a full-scale free trade agreement was signed between the countries of the union and Iran.

In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Masoud Peseshkian signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in Moscow, symbolizing a new stage in relations between the two countries. The document concerns active cooperation on a range of issues from military-political and trade-economic to scientific and humanitarian.

Ivan Glukhov, a researcher at the Center for the Study of the Global South at the INION RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia that the signing of the agreement was very timely and significant.

"The agreement is quite significant for the Russian Federation, it opens up new opportunities for further expansion of trade, economic, cultural, scientific and educational cooperation, cooperation in the field of nuclear energy and gas supplies, and the implementation of joint strategic logistics projects," the expert explained.

A symbolic step

Rustam Burnashev, a security specialist in Central Asia, told Izvestia that the countries' cooperation with Iran is currently quite limited due to the fact that Tehran is under sanctions.

— However, there are some areas that are quite important for Kazakhstan, such as transport and logistics. The Iranian vector has always been considered quite significant for all Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan. Now Iran is included in the format of the North-South route, which is actively promoted by Russia, and Kazakhstan fits into the same format," the expert explained.

He added that a scheme for trading hydrocarbons is also being discussed, there are small areas related to food trade and agriculture, but these are not strategic areas, mainly the parties are still interested in logistics projects.

In early November, after a telephone conversation with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the American leader announced that Kazakhstan had joined the "Abraham Agreements," which was causing serious tension in Tehran.

Burnashev believes that this is a purely symbolic and ideological step, given that it has virtually no significance for Astana.

— After all, Kazakhstan does not have a military conflict with Israel, there are no restrictions on trade. The Avraham Accords presuppose the normalization of Israel's relations with some countries of the Arab world where they had conflicts. Perhaps this issue will be discussed at the talks, but most likely in a closed format. At the same time, it is unlikely that Astana's accession to these agreements with Israel will somehow affect Iran's position," the expert concluded.

A more stable relationship

Yernar Serik, a trade and investment analyst from Kazakhstan, believes that the presidents of Iran and Kazakhstan will discuss logistics and the development of a transit corridor through Iran, as well as the expansion of exports from Kazakhstan, investments in the agricultural sector and processing.

He added that there are technical conditions and tariffs that are holding back trade growth.

"If they can be agreed upon, then bilateral relations will become even more stable and predictable," the expert is confident.

According to political analyst Zhanat Momynkulov, according to Iranian sources, Tehran perceives the neighboring country as a "natural Eurasian partner," a strategic transport hub, food exporter and gateway to the markets of the EAEU, China and Central Asia.

"Iran considers Kazakhstan a key link for entering the markets of the Persian Gulf, South Asia and the Middle East," the expert emphasizes.

According to the expert, Kazakh-Iranian relations in the coming years will develop in three main areas: logistics, industry and the agro-industrial complex, as well as cooperation in the field of energy and petrochemical industries.

"This all includes the modernization of ports, the development of the Caspian Fleet, the digitalization of customs procedures, the expansion of container services, technology exchange and the participation of companies from both countries in the modernization of necessary industries," the analyst concluded.