Tajikistan has begun receiving oil and petroleum products from Iran, opening a new supply route as Russian fuel deliveries falter. The country’s Energy Ministry confirmed the deliveries to the Asia-Plus news agency.

Dushanbe has asked Iran for up to 2.55 million tonnes of crude and petroleum products a year. The request covers 2 million tonnes of crude oil plus diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.

Russia supplied more than 91 per cent of Tajikistan’s petroleum imports in the first half of 2026. Officials blame unreliable Russian supplies for the search for alternatives.

The pivot carries sanctions risk. The US Treasury’s ‘Operation Economic Outcast’, launched on August 24, widened secondary-sanctions exposure for Iran-related energy dealings. A Treasury spokeswoman warned that anyone in Iran’s petroleum sector ‘incurs that risk themselves’.

The ministry has not disclosed the volume, price or transport route of the current shipments. Analysts say moving large quantities of Iranian oil to landlocked Tajikistan will be costly and logistically difficult.