PKKH is a Zaid Hamid affiliated site. They have all sorts of conspiracy theories going on so don't trust it
Chahbahar port has been open to Afghan traders for a long time now for selected companies but this makes it official so now any Afghan trader can get his goods from here. Its still good overall because now Afghanistan no longer have to depend on Karachi port for their exports and imports
Iran Opens Chabahar Port to Afghan Traders
Afghanistan will be allowed to use Iran's Chabahar port for shipments and trade after the two countries signed an agreement in Kabul Wednesday.
The agreement was signed by Afghanistan's Minister of Commerce And Industries Anwar al Haq Ahady and the Iranian Ambassador to Afghanistan Abolfazl Zohrevand.
The endorsement of the pact means Afghan traders will be able to use the southeastern port - Iran's only port with direct access to the sea - for importing and exporting goods.
Officials said the Chabahat port will help Afghanistan's trade-related transit problems and is likely to boost commercial transactions.
Ahady said that, according to the agreement, the first step involves building a hub near the port for Afghan traders to have a base for trading from.
The allocation of land is around 50 hectares and he expects traders would be able to use it within a year, he said.
"Through the efforts of the Afghan and Iranian officials, Chabahar as a transit route for Afghanistan has become a reality," he added.
A panel of officials from Iran who travelled to Afghanistan for the signing of the agreement said that many countries had applied to Chabahar Port for permission to use it, and Afghanistan had succeeded.
Ambassador Zohrevand welcomed the agreement saying it would help the economic expansion of Afghanistan as it gave greater access to world markets.
"The outcome of this agreement is not only positive for Afghanistan and Iran relations, we also expect it to help the joint cooperation of Afghan and Iran traders so they can expand through cooperation to the Middle East and Asia," he said.
The agreement eases the pressure on Afghanistan to rely on trade routes through Pakistan, as relations between the two have significantly strained in recent years.
It also signals the warming relations between Iran and Afghanistan. Only last week the pair endorsed an agreement to allow for the transfer of prisoners sentenced in the other's country to serve their sentence in their native land.