International Affairs - The Times Of Central Asia

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Iran

Central Asian Governments Join Mourning for Iran’s Late Supreme Leader

Central Asian delegations have traveled to Iran for the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on Feb. 28, the first day of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. The gesture reflects how Central Asia countries want to preserve and expand longstanding ties with Iran, even as they build trade and diplomatic relationships with the United States. President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan expressed condolences and hopes for peace during a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian inTehran on Friday, Tajikistan’s presidential office said. “It was noted that the volume of trade between the two countries has increased eightfold in the past five years, approaching almost five hundred million dollars in 2025,” the Tajik statement said. “At the same time, it was stated that there are all the necessary opportunities to bring this figure to one billion dollars in the near future.” Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the former president of Turkmenistan who shares power with his son and successor, Serdar, was also in Tehran on Friday. In a meeting, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, told him that Iran wanted to expand links with Turkmenistan, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA. Berdymukhamedov said trade between the two countries should increase and “expressed confidence that Iran would achieve favorable results in future negotiations with the United States,” IRNA said. Other Central Asian delegations attending funeral ceremonies in Tehran were led by Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev of Kazakhstan; Nuriddin Ismailov, speaker of Uzbekistan’s parliament; and Marlen Mamataliev, head of Kyrgyzstan's legislative assembly. A fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States is in place and negotiations aimed at reaching a lasting settlement to a conflict that impacted the global economy are underway. Delegations from dozens of countries are in Iran for the funeral, which includes events over several days. The mourning is an opportunity for the Iranian leadership to demonstrate international stature after many of its key figures were killed in the U.S.-Israeli attacks. Khamenei was replaced by his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. Some reports say the younger Khamenei was injured in the attack that killed his father and he has not been seen in public since the beginning of the conflict. The extent of his injuries has not been confirmed, though Iran has acknowledged that he was hurt. - For a complete chronology of the crisis and its implications for Central Asia, explore our continuously updated timeline and special coverage.

Central Asian Migrants

Russia Still Dominates Uzbek Remittances Despite Falling Share

Remittances to Uzbekistan continued to rise in the first quarter of 2026, even as Russia’s share of migrant transfers declined, according to a new labor market review by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. Uzbek migrant workers sent home $3.8 billion in the first three months of the year, up 13% from the same period in 2025. Russia remained by far the largest source of those transfers, accounting for 72.4% of the total, but its share fell from 77.6% a year earlier. More than 1.63 million Uzbek citizens traveled abroad in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 11.6% compared with the same period last year, according to the Central Bank. The figure covers outbound travel by Uzbek citizens, rather than labor migration alone, but it points to continued growth in population mobility. Air travel also expanded sharply during the first three months of the year, with 2.25 million passengers transported by air, up 32% year-on-year. Russia remained the main destination for Uzbek labor migrants, although the number of citizens working there under the country’s patent system declined. A work patent is the permit used by many visa-free foreign nationals, including Uzbeks, to work legally in Russia, with workers making regular tax-style payments to maintain the document. According to the Central Bank, 1.34 million Uzbek citizens were working in Russia under work patents in the first quarter, down 8.8% from the previous quarter and 1.8% compared with the same period in 2025. The bank said the decline reflected seasonal factors as well as changing conditions in external labor markets. Those "changing conditions" include a weaker ruble and tighter migration enforcement in Russia, where the price of a work patent has also risen. In Moscow, for example, the monthly payment required to maintain a migrant work patent increased from 8,900 rubles (about $120) to 10,000 rubles (about $135) from January 2026. There has also been a gradual opening of alternative destinations for Uzbek workers. Citing Turkey’s migration authority, the Central Bank said the number of Uzbek citizens in Turkey holding official residence or migration permits reached nearly 70,000 in the first quarter, up 14% year-on-year. The number of Uzbek nationals residing in South Korea also continued to grow, reaching 99,600. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s share of remittances rose from 3.1% to 4.1%, Europe’s increased from 2.3% to 3.3%, and South Korea’s rose from 3.5% to 4.1%. The combined share of other countries climbed from 13.6% to 16.2%. The figures suggest that Uzbek labor migration is becoming more geographically varied, but Russia remains dominant. Its 72.4% share of remittances is still more than 17 times the share of Kazakhstan or South Korea, and almost 22 times Europe’s share. The latest figures build on a broader trend identified by the Central Bank last year. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, Uzbek migrant workers sent home $4.8 billion in the second quarter of 2025, up 21.4% year-on-year. At the time, the Central Bank linked the increase to stable exchange rates in host countries, rising wages, and continued economic activity, while noting particularly strong growth...

Strategic Partnership

Uzbekistan and Georgia Sign Strategic Partnership Declaration

Uzbekistan and Georgia have signed a declaration establishing strategic partnership relations, adding a new dimension to a relationship led by trade and Eurasian transit routes. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held talks on July 3 in Tbilisi during Mirziyoyev's state visit. The sides also exchanged agreements and memorandums on customs, digitalization, education, agriculture, tourism, environmental protection, labor migration, healthcare, and nuclear and radiation safety. The visit was the first by an Uzbek president to Georgia in 23 years. Mirziyoyev held talks with Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili on July 2 and with Kobakhidze the following day. Before the signing, Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili told 1TV that the visit was a "historic opportunity to elevate relations" and tied the agenda to the Middle Corridor. One concrete diplomatic step is Tashkent's decision to open an embassy in Georgia. Uzbekistan currently has no embassy in Georgia and covers the country through its diplomatic mission in Baku, despite diplomatic relations having been established in August 1994. The Uzbek president's office said bilateral trade reached $270 million in 2025 and has passed $100 million since the start of 2026. The governments plan a dedicated roadmap to raise trade to $1 billion in the coming years and reduce the trade imbalance. Following the talks, the Uzbek side said both governments had agreed on "concrete steps to significantly increase trade and deepen industrial cooperation in key sectors." The focus on Georgian ports gives the deal a clear regional dimension. Mirziyoyev and Kobakhidze discussed wider use of Poti and Batumi for Uzbek cargo and backed a logistics hub in Georgia, with an industrial zone and a showroom for Uzbek products. A business forum held before the signing drew about 300 participants, including Georgian businesses from logistics, pharmaceuticals, finance, IT, tourism, and agribusiness. Georgia already serves as a South Caucasus outlet for Central Asian freight moving toward the Black Sea and Turkey. Uzbekistan is seeking more western routes as it develops rail links toward China, Afghanistan, and the Caspian Sea. The Times of Central Asia recently reported that Kyrgyzstan and Georgia discussed linking the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to Georgian port infrastructure. Mirziyoyev made the same connection in Tbilisi, proposing that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor be integrated with the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway now under development. That proposal would put Georgia firmly inside Uzbekistan's export planning. Uzbek foreign trade cargo moving along the Middle Corridor has doubled over the past five years to reach 1.2 million tons by the end of 2025. Industrial cooperation is also moving beyond general pledges. The sides signed a cooperation program through 2027 and discussed projects in agriculture, electrical engineering, energy, pharmaceuticals, food processing, construction materials, digital services, and tourism. The leaders also proposed a joint investment fund to support new projects. People-to-people links have grown with direct flights. Tashkent now has air links with both Tbilisi and Batumi, with direct flights operating 13 times per week. More than 21,500 Uzbek tourists visited Georgia in 2025, while Georgian tourist arrivals in Uzbekistan reached 6,800...

Humanitarian Aid

Twenty-Five Years Ago, Karimov and Powell Opened a Humanitarian Lifeline. Today, Global Support Wanes

During the first week of June 2026, World Food Programme Afghanistan Country Director John Aylieff, Supply Chain Officer Shukhratmirzo Khodzhaev, and TCA’s Javier M Piedra visited the Termez–Hairatan border crossing and the Termez Free Economic Zone (TFEZ), a logistics hub between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan on the Amu Darya River. The trip was organized by the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) in connection with Termez Dialogue 2026, a flagship Uzbekistan initiative designed to advance economic integration, trade, and cultural exchange across Central and South Asia. For 25 years, Uzbekistan has maintained the Termez crossing as a key humanitarian gateway, ensuring Afghanistan’s continued access to regional and global supply chains. [caption id="attachment_51321" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Geographical position of the Amu Darya; source: snipview.com/amudarya[/caption] A quarter-century on, the gateway that has saved millions of Afghans from famine remains open, but the funding that makes it so meaningful is on life support. While Central Asia has stepped up, its increased contributions only partially offset the huge shortfall left by wealthier countries. Termez, Uzbekistan Twenty-five years ago, with winter approaching, borders closed, logistics shattered, and five million Afghans in urgent need of food, WFP's Petar Bojilov and Tim Lavelle—on loan to USAID OFDA's DART from USUN Rome—took on an impossible mission: to open a lifeline and get emergency food aid across the Amu Darya River from Uzbekistan into Afghanistan. What began with one barge and a handful of hopelessly underequipped and understaffed personnel in 2001 has become one of the world's most consequential logistics hubs, through which WFP has delivered over 220,000 metric tons of food into Afghanistan in recent years. In 2026, the Bridge of Friendship Marks its 25th Anniversary Once a barely functional border crossing, Termez is now a Free Economic Zone (AIRITOM) with multimodal connectivity and extensive storage, providing WFP with what John Aylieff calls unmatched operational flexibility. “What makes the Termez hub today so strategically important is its reliability and versatility,” says Aylieff. “It offers dependable transshipment through multiple Afghan corridors—a vital lifeline where speed matters – as well as loading and storage. Given current geopolitical tensions, from the closure of the Pakistan–Afghanistan border to the spillover of the Middle East crisis, its role has become even more essential for humanitarian operations.” [caption id="attachment_51320" align="aligncenter" width="761"] John Aylieff and Javier Piedra, Termez (June 7th, 2026). Image: TCA[/caption] Since February 2026, violence along Afghanistan's 2,400-kilometre border with Pakistan has escalated sharply, triggering the displacement of approximately 20,000 families. With heightened instability along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in Iran, forced returns of Afghan refugees have increased sharply; the Termez transit corridor has become all the more critical as a channel for humanitarian food aid. Termez's value extends well beyond WFP's own operations. "The hub not only serves WFP in Afghanistan but also supports numerous humanitarian agencies in the country, including UNHCR, UNFPA, and UNICEF," says Aylieff. "It is the backbone of the northern corridor supply chain into Afghanistan, and more and more agencies are relying on WFP's logistics capabilities to bring their...

Tajik-Afghan Border

Chinese Workers Return to Tajik Highway Under Guard After Afghan Border Attacks

Chinese engineers and workers have returned to a highway site in eastern Tajikistan under armed protection. Their return restarts work on a road toward China that stopped after two attacks from Afghanistan killed five Chinese nationals in November. Tajikistan's Transport Ministry said Chinese specialists came back in April to the Kalai-Khumb to Vanj section of the Dushanbe-Kulma highway in Gorno-Badakhshan. They are advising local crews, pouring concrete, fitting tunnel lighting and completing other works. Ozodi said its correspondent saw Tajik special forces guarding Chinese workers in Darvaz in late May, but security officers did not allow photos or video. The return keeps the China-funded Dushanbe-Kulma corridor moving. The road links Dushanbe with the Kulma Pass on the Chinese frontier through the Pamir. The Kalai-Khumb-Vanj works sit close to the Pyanj River, where attacks from the Afghan side are impacting the cost of Chinese projects. Construction on the Kalai-Khumb-Vanj section began on Sept. 20, 2022, with the contract running until September 20, 2026. The contractor is China Road and Bridge Corporation. China is funding the work with a $230 million grant. Once complete, the road section should shrink from 109 kilometers to 92.3 kilometers. It includes two tunnels, five anti-avalanche corridors and 14 bridges. The route crosses Darvaz, one of Tajikistan's hardest mountain road sections. The Transport Ministry has described it as a route that had gone for years without major repairs. The work is meant to allow year-round movement and lower fuel and travel costs. By January, crews had finished 12 of the 14 bridges. Two bridges, avalanche corridors and tunnel systems remained under construction. Work stopped after the November 30 attack in Shodak, a village in Darvaz district. Tajikistan's Border Troops said an armed group came from Ruzvayak in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province and attacked CRBC employees. Two Chinese citizens were killed and two were wounded. Dushanbe called the attackers members of an armed terrorist group, but did not publicly name the organization. Four days earlier, another attack hit Shamsiddin Shohin district in Khatlon, also from Afghan territory. The Chinese embassy said three Chinese citizens were killed and one Chinese citizen was wounded. TCA previously reported that Tajikistan described the strike as using an unmanned aerial vehicle carrying explosives. China reacted with a rare public warning. On December 1, the Chinese embassy urged Chinese companies and personnel to evacuate the Tajik-Afghan border area. Its latest June 9 public warning still told Chinese citizens not to work or travel in Tajikistan's southern border areas, citing a complex security situation and extreme weather. Afghanistan's Taliban government promised cooperation after the killings. Reuters quoted Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as saying, "The Islamic Emirate is fully prepared to strengthen border security, conduct joint investigations, and engage in any form of coordination… joint measures against malicious elements are a pressing necessity." Taliban officials later said suspects had been detained in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province. The Tajik authorities say the border is stable and under control, while continuing to announce smuggling cases and armed incidents....

Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict

Pakistani Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill at Least 28 Civilians, UN Says

The United Nations says at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 injured in Pakistani airstrikes in several provinces in Afghanistan, as violence continues in the border region following ceasefire efforts that have repeatedly broken down. Women and children were among the casualties in the airstrikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces on Sunday night, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Monday. UNAMA said the figures were preliminary and that the toll could increase as hospitals treat the injured. Hamdullah Fitrat, a spokesman for the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan, announced a higher casualty toll than the UN. At least 36 civilians were killed and 163 others were injured, Fitrat said on X. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the airstrikes hit militant hideouts and strongholds on the Afghan side of the border, killing at least two dozen militants in retaliation for attacks on targets in Pakistan. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing sanctuary to militants who carry out attacks against Pakistani security forces, an allegation that the Taliban in Afghanistan denies. Besides humanitarian concerns, the ongoing violence is also a concern for Central Asian governments and business groups that are working to develop trade corridors and infrastructure projects linking their region with South Asia. Those projects, which would require close collaboration between Afghanistan and Pakistan, include the Trans-Afghan Railway, the TAPI natural gas pipeline, and the CASA-1000 electricity project.