KABUL, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A delay by Iran in allowing fuel tankers into Afghanistan was costing Afghan companies about ${esc.dollar}500,000 a day, but the month-long delay has not strained political ties, the country's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
Some 1,900 tankers, with fuel worth about ${esc.dollar}15 million, were backed up in Iran after the country limited the number of trucks it was allowing to cross the border into Afghanistan to a trickle, the independent Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries said.
But Aziz Shams, a ministry spokesman, said the slowdown would not hurt the economy because most of Afghanistan's fuel came through Pakistan.
"The issue is being solved now. It is not a major problem for us," said Shams, adding that Iran had not given Afghanistan any explanation for why it had held up the fuel tankers.
Shams also said the issue would not hurt the relations between the neighbours in one of the region's most volatile areas.
Shams said the number of tankers coming across the border from Iran, carrying fuel from the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, had fallen to about 15 a day from 70, but that this figure was gradually rising.
Iran has said the slowdown was due to "technical problems" related to the reduction of Iranian fuel subsidies and that the issue was now being solved.
The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries said it was told by Iranian officials the tankers were delayed because Tehran believed the fuel was destined for U.S. and NATO forces, which are fighting a resilient insurgency in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said he could not discuss fuel supply routes for security reasons.
While the chamber said Afghan fuel prices had risen up to 35 percent in some provinces, other officials have reported smaller price increases of between 12-15 percent. Drivers in Kabul said there had been only a minimal increase.
(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Jonathon Burch; Writing by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)
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