Baku, Azerbaijan, June 15
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
Sea transportation costs from Iran, Qatar’s sole breathing space, have risen sharply following the Saudi-led blockade on Doha, jeopardizing Tehran’s chance of grabbing the lion’s share from the isolated Arab market.
Ahmad Sadeghian, an Iranian commerce official, has slammed the skyrocketing shipping prices terming the move by ship owners in Southern regions of the country as “creating black market”, Tasnim news agency reported.
The transportation prices through sea have shot up four times reaching $2,000 per container over the past few days since Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed sanctions on Qatar, he said.
He further added that the rising prices would leave a negative impact on Iran’s exports to Qatar as Turkey is expanding its exports to the Middle Eastern nation of the Persian Gulf.
Saudi Arabia and its regional allies including the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar on June 5 over Doha’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s oldest Islamist movement.
The Saudi allies, in the meantime, announced their plan to close air and sea transport links to Qatar.