Dawn (Pakistan)
Trump threatens to isolate Iran. Who are its trading partners?
A threat by US President Donald Trump to impose unprecedented economic warfare and isolation on Iran could have implications for countries that trade with it. Trump warned of economic consequences for any country that supports Iran.
Here are some of Iran’s main trading partners in recent years:
Pakistan
For Pakistan, any US action against countries involved in trade or assistance to Iran could be a serious setback, analysts said, amid Pakistan-Iran commitments to expand bilateral trade to $10 billion.
Following past sanctions on Iran, formal trade between the two countries had come to a halt until recently. However, informal trade has taken exports and imports from both sides to approximately $4bn, according to unofficial statistics.
After the Islamabad interim agreement was signed in June, efforts were quickly made to expand trade cooperation. Pakistan and Iran have for years traded oil, wheat, rice, live stocks and medicines through informal channels.
India
India’s trade with Iran dropped sharply in 2020, when Washington pressed on with sanctions on Tehran.
Two-way trade was cut by more than two-thirds to nearly $4.8bn in the fiscal year 2019-20, from $17bn in the previous year. Over the years, trade between India and Iran has fallen further, and stood at $1.63bn in the fiscal year 2025-26, according to data from India’s commerce ministry.
Indian exports worth $1.3bn make for the bulk of this trade as New Delhi predominantly ships cereals, tea, coffee and spices to Iran.
Officials in New Delhi have previously maintained that such exports continue on humanitarian grounds and should remain outside the scope of any sanctions.
China
China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, could face additional pressures from the US over its purchases if Trump follows through on his promise.
Over the past decade, China has created a ring-fenced system of refiners that process mainly Iranian oil and do not have much US exposure.
Iranian oil delivered to China has long been branded as Malaysian, and more recently Indonesian, and trades in a tight loop, is settled in Chinese currency and involves a chain of difficult-to-track intermediaries, say refinery sources and traders involved in the business.
The US Treasury in April imposed sanctions on a Chinese independent refinery for buying billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil and warned Chinese banks of secondary sanctions if they facilitated trade of Iranian oil.
“Sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem. China calls on all parties concerned to take responsible measures to resolve the issue through political and diplomatic means,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in a briefing.
Over 80 per cent of Iran’s shipped oil has been destined for China, as Chinese independent refiners take advantage of discounted US-sanctioned oil.
Kpler estimates that China bought an average of 1.38m barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2025.
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates has historically been one of Iran’s most critical economic lifelines, and Dubai’s banks have long held substantial Iranian-linked deposits, much of them now immobilised under US sanctions.
The UAE was among Iran’s largest trade partners before the war, providing 30pc of its imports worth an overall $21bn in 2024, according to the World Trade Organisation’s latest figures. It also accounted for 13pc of Iran’s exports in the same year, the data showed.
Non-oil foreign trade between the two countries totalled $6.6 billion in 2024, according to UAE economy ministry data, with the vast majority of trade represented by re-exports.
This week, the UAE suspended all financial and economic transactions with Iran until further notice, citing a military escalation by Tehran with a missile threat, refocusing the spotlight on fraught ties between the countries.
Turkiye
Turkiye and Iran maintain significant economic ties, with Turkiye importing Iranian natural gas and exporting manufactured goods to Iran.
Turkiye has not signalled any willingness to curtail commerce with Iran, with bilateral trade standing at around $5-6bn annually, with Turkiye exporting to Iran around $3bn.
Turkiye imports almost all its natural gas consumption and Iran is a notable source, providing 13pc of all gas imports.
Iraq
Iraq’s trade with Iran reached more than $10bn in 2025, according to official Iraqi trade figures, with the relationship largely driven by Iranian exports of food, consumer goods and other products to the Iraqi market.
Trade declined in 2026 after the Iran war started, which increased regional security risks and led to intermittent disruptions along key border crossings, as well as higher transport costs, said Mohammed Karim, an Iraqi trade ministry official with knowledge of trade activities with Iran.
These conditions, combined with broader supply chain disruptions affecting the movement of goods, reduced the volume and reliability of cross-border commerce although the countries remain important trading partners, said Karim.
Energy is a key part of the relationship. Iraq pays Iran around $4bn to $5bn a year for natural gas, according to Iraqi energy officials, with the gas used to generate electricity.
Two Iraqi energy officials said any new US sanctions on Iraq could create significant challenges for Baghdad in maintaining payments for Iranian energy while avoiding exposure to US sanctions, particularly given existing restrictions that have forced Iraq to use restricted accounts to settle payments.
Oman
Oman has long maintained cordial ties with Iran, dating back to before the 1979 Islamic revolution, with Muscat often acting as a mediator between Iran and other countries, including the US.
The countries’ trade relationship has grown in recent years, with trade of goods totalling $1.5bn in 2025 and $345m in the first four months of this year, according to data from Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Armenia
Iran accounted for $768m, or 3.6pc of neighbouring Armenia’s total trade turnover in 2025, according to official Armenian statistics.
Armenia’s trade turnover with Iran reached $371.4m in the first half of 2026, marking an 8.4pc increase. Exports were recorded at $42.8m, a 6pc decrease, while imports amounted to $336.9m, a 12pc increase.
Some 20pc of Armenia’s foreign trade passes through Iran. Armenia and Iran have a gas for electricity swap agreement, where Armenia uses gas supplied by Iran to make electricity, which is then sent back to Iran as well as being used domestically in Armenia.
Azerbaijan
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran rose 4.5pc in January-June 2026 compared with January-June 2025, to $312.6m from $299.1m, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee. Azerbaijan’s imports from Iran increased 1.5pc to $297m from $292.7m in the same period of 2025.
Azerbaijan’s exports to Iran rose 2.4-fold to $15.6m from $6.4 million in January-June 2025.
Iran accounted for 3.56pc of Azerbaijan’s total imports, up from 2.54pc in January-June 2025.
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