Tajikistan has started receiving oil and petroleum products from Iran, officials confirmed, opening a potential new supply line for a country whose fuel market has long been dominated by Russia. A US Treasury spokeswoman warned that Iran's petroleum sector carries elevated sanctions exposure.
Tajikistan's Energy and Water Resources Ministry told the Asia-Plus news agency that deliveries from Iran began in late August, following talks between the two countries on expanding oil and gas cooperation. The ministry has not disclosed the volume, commercial terms, or transport route of the shipments.
Dushanbe has asked Iran to supply up to 2.55 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products annually, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. That figure is a requested volume, not the amount currently being delivered, and the economics of moving large quantities of crude oil to landlocked Tajikistan remain unclear.
The deal comes as Russia accounted for 91.1% of Tajikistan's petroleum-product imports in the first half of 2026, with Russian fuel shortages and export restrictions, worsened by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries, pushing Central Asian buyers to look elsewhere.
Sanctions risk looms over the deal
The move raises questions about US secondary sanctions, since Washington has stepped up pressure on Iran's oil revenues. US Treasury spokeswoman Gigi O'Connell said the department would not comment on specific allegations but warned that Iran's petroleum and petrochemical sectors carry elevated sanctions exposure. The Treasury Department has warned repeatedly about sanctions tied to Iranian oil and in August announced an expansion of the conduct that could trigger secondary sanctions.
Edward Lemon, president of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, said the scale of cooperation between the two countries would likely shape how seriously Washington treats the relationship, since it remains low next to Russia or China. Still, Lemon said: "Tajikistan could of course become one of those countries".
Warming ties between Dushanbe and Tehran
The energy deal follows a broader thaw between the two countries. Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry says bilateral trade reached $438 million in 2025, up 28% from the previous year, with more than 200 agreements and memorandums signed between the two sides.
Relations were not always close. Ties deteriorated in the mid-2010s over Dushanbe's wariness of alleged Iranian support for a banned opposition party, and in 2017 Tajikistan accused Tehran of involvement in political killings in the 1990s, which Iran denied. The relationship began thawing in the early 2020s after Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited Tehran in 2022, the same year the two countries inaugurated a drone-manufacturing facility in Dushanbe.
A Tajik delegation visited Tehran in August for talks with Iranian officials on oil products and railways, according to the Tajik Embassy in Tehran.
Source: Oilprice.com
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