Afghan official blames Iran for fuel shortage

Jan 16, 2011, 13:05 GMT

Kabul - Afghanistan's commerce minister on Sunday blamed Iran for the country's fuel shortage amid growing protests in the war-torn nation against its neighbour.

More than a month ago Iran cut its fuel supply route to Afghanistan for more than a month without providing a convincing reason, Anwarul Haq Ahadi told journalists.

'Afghanistan is suffering. The stoppage of fuel tankers has created great problems and a crisis for us in terms of fuel supply,' Ahadi said.

'We are not very happy with the progress of negotiations that we have with Iranian authorities in regard to tackling the crisis. We had been assured many times that the tankers will be released soon without any development.'

The minister said Iranian authorities were only releasing 40 tankers a day, not enough for Afghanistan's fuel supply. There were still about 1,800 to 1,900 tankers on the other side of the border, he said.

The unofficial ban started early December. The minister said Afghanistan was importing 2,000 tons of fuel daily through Iran before the problem started.

Ahadi said the government as well as the private sector was trying to secure fuel from other sources.

'In this regard, our import from Turkmenistan has increased. We have also approached Kazakhstan to let us buy 200,000 tons of fuel from Kazakhstan,' Ahadi told reporters.

Ahadi said he was hoping to sign a new fuel supply agreement with Moscow during his visit this week, adding that Russian oil companies had concluded a number of deals with private companies in Afghanistan, and the fuel would reach Kabul in three weeks.

Afghanistan annually needs at least two million tons of fuel to supply its domestic needs. NATO arranges its fuel needs separately.

At least seven demonstrations have taken place in Kabul and Herat provinces since the shortages began a month ago. Five of them took place in front of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul where protesters also threw stones.

Fuel prices have gone up across the country by up to 35 per cent with the first snows of winter falling earlier this week in the capital.

Around 40 per cent of the landlocked country's fuel usually comes from Iran, Afghan officials say.

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