Iran resumes a crucial lifeline to Afghanistan: Fuel

In Afghanistan, the price of gasoline surpassed $900 per tonne, as many Afghans were driven out of cities for fear of reprisal and a return to the Taliban’s severe version of Islamic law, which they imposed when they were in power 20 years ago.
“The Taliban sent messages to Iran saying, ‘You can continue to export petroleum products,’” Hamid Hosseini, a board member and spokesman for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union in Tehran, told Reuters, which first reported the resumption of oil exports to Afghanistan on Tuesday.The Taliban sent messages to Iranian traders and to an Iranian chamber of commerce, which has close links to the government.
As a result, the government’s Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) lifted a ban on fuel exports to Afghanistan that had been in effect since August 6 due to Iran’s worries about the country’s trading safety.Those concerns have been eased by the Taliban’s attitude, Hosseini said.
He also mentioned the Taliban’s decision to lower tariffs on fuel imports from Iran and other neighboring countries, and he supplied an official document issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — the Taliban’s official name.The document specified a 70-percent discount on tariffs on imports of gasoline, diesel and LPG from the neighbouring countries to Afghanistan.