Kazakhstan has dispatched 30 railway wagons of humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Iran, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on May 16.
The shipment – which included staple food supplies such as canned meat, sugar, flour, as well as medicines – is intended to support the Iranian population and help meet essential social needs.
A diplomatic handover ceremony to mark the occasion was arranged at Serakhs railway station, on Turkmenistan’s border with Iran. Those present included Ontalap Onalbayev, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Iran; representatives of the Iranian Red Crescent Society; and the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s representative office in its northwestern province of Razavi Khorasan.
“Friends are revealed in difficult times. Kazakhstan has consistently supported the people of Iran in times of hardship,” said Ambassador Onalbayev.
Kazakhstan has attempted to tread a careful line towards Iran since the US/Israeli offensive which began on February 28.
Astana had gone out of its way to court the Trump administration, with President Tokayev describing his US counterpart as “sent by heaven” in November 2025. Tokayev has also signed Kazakhstan up to Trump’s Board of Peace initiative.
Meanwhile, Iran is seen as an important part of Kazakhstan’s future infrastructure links to the outside world, with its Indian Ocean ports viewed as a valuable alternative to land-based routes via Russia and China.
Kazakhstan and Iran continue to maintain trade and economic cooperation. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan began exporting vegetable oil to Iran via the Caspian Sea in spring 2026.
That said, in April, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issetov noted that several joint projects between Kazakhstan and Iran had been frozen because of military tensions in the region.
A representative of the Iranian Red Crescent Society thanked Kazakhstan for the humanitarian assistance and said the gesture would help strengthen bilateral relations and mutual support between the two countries.
