Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 13
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Head of Iran's Road Maintenance and Road Transportation Organization Davoud Keshavarzian said that establishing transit charge for Iranian trucks by Turkey is illegal, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Oct. 13.
While commenting on the charges received by Iranian side from Turkish trucks, the official said that it is within the mutual agreement.
He said that the two sides can only receive transit fees in case of fuel price differences in the countries, according to an agreement which was signed decades ago.
Keshavarzian defended Iran's move on charging Turkish trucks saying the fuel price in Iran is very low in comparison with Turkey.
Turkey recently decided to charge $750 worth of border crossing fees for Iranian trucks in order to force Iran to reduce its $750 fee on Turkish trucks.
The decision came to force on Oct. 10. Iran in response raised the fees to $1,500 for Turkish trucks one day later.
Following this, the Turkish side countered by increasing the fees on Iranian trucks to $1,500 which was criticized by Iran.
Iran was charging $750 in fees for Turkish trucks while Turkey allowed Iranian trucks into the country free of charge which was a matter of debates for a long time.