Iraq records nearly 10K TIR truck journeys

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Nearly 10,000 truck journeys have been completed through Iraq under the international TIR transit system, the Transport Ministry said on Friday.

Murtadha Karim Al-Shahmani, Director General of the General Company for Land Transportation, said an Iraqi-registered truck had entered Turkiye using a TIR carnet issued by the company, loaded goods in Mardin, and begun transporting them to Amman, Jordan, via Iraq. The journey follows the first TIR trip by an Iraqi truck toward Central Asia about two months ago, according to Al-Shahmani, who said the sharp rise in TIR traffic since June had created more opportunities for Iraqi transport companies and strengthened the country’s role as a trade corridor between East and West.

The TIR system (Transports Internationaux Routiers) is a United Nations-backed customs transit framework that allows goods to cross international borders under a single customs guarantee, reducing paperwork and inspection delays. Iraq formally joined the system in cooperation with the International Road Transport Union (IRU) to facilitate cross-border freight movement.

The Transport Ministry has signed transport agreements with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iran, and Turkiye, while Armenia, Poland, and several Gulf states are pursuing similar arrangements with Baghdad.