Iran, Turkey to soon resolve issue of stranded trucks: min.

Iran’s minister of roads and urban development says country is working with neighboring Turkey to reach a permanent solution to the issue of trucks stranded at the border between the two countries because of fuel tax disputes.

News ID: ۲۰۰۰۵۹۳

10 January 2025

EghtesadOnline: "We are carrying out intensive negotiations to resolve the issue completely and in a fundamental way,” Farzaneh Sadegh said.

Sadegh said that negotiations to resolve the fuel tax dispute between Iran and Turkey dragged on in recent days because talks have been held on multiple fronts between transport and foreign ministry authorities of the two countries, Press TV reported.

“The delay is because multiple agencies related to the issue have become involved in the talks as they seek to work out a permanent solution,” she said.

More than a thousand Iranian trucks have been stranded at the border with Turkey since December 29 when the country announced that it had revoked fuel tax exemptions for Iranian vehicles. That has sparked an outcry among truck drivers who say they cannot afford to pay a fuel tax equivalent to 155% of Turkey’s special consumption tax

Turkish authorities have reacted by saying that the new measure is a response to Iran’s fuel surcharge payment for foreign trucks.

That comes as subsidized fuel in Iran is almost 20-fold cheaper than Turkey and other countries in the region.

Reports in recent days showed that Iran had retaliated against Turkey’s new fuel tax policy by halting fuel supplies to Turkish trucks as of January 3. / Mehr