Who trades with Iran

Q: Who is Iran's biggest trading partner?

China, by a wide margin: China's own customs data show it sold about $10 billion of goods to Iran and bought about $4.6 billion in 2023, and tanker trackers put unrecorded oil purchases far higher. Then the UAE (largely a re-export hub), Turkey, Iraq, India and Brazil (grain and sugar). The map shows two sets of figures: what Iran reports and what each partner reports; under sanctions the two rarely match.

Iran's exports to and imports from each country, shaded on the map, from World Bank WITS data. China, the UAE, Turkey, Iraq and India lead.

Choose a view — the map recolours

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Trade with Iran: the data behind the map

Country	Ties with Iran	Arab League	Shia share	Iran exports to / imports from, Iran's data (2022)	Sold to / bought from Iran, partner's data (2023)	Flights from Tehran	Headlines, 30 days
Iran	—	No Persian (Farsi) — Indo-European	90–95%	—	—	—	—
Iraq	Close relations Full relations; largest neighbouring trade partner; security agreement on border groups March 2023.	Member Arabic — Semitic	60–67%	$7.3 bn / $458 m	—	Partly suspended	515
Turkey	Diplomatic relations Full relations; major trade and transit partner; competing positions in Syria and the Caucasus.	No Turkish — Turkic	10–15%	$5.8 bn / $6.1 bn	$3.2 bn / $2.2 bn	Partly suspended	111
Syria	Frozen (2024) Relations frozen after the fall of the Assad government (December 2024); ambassadorial posts vacant, Iranian embassy in Damascus not operating.	Member Arabic — Semitic	13–16%	$238 m / $26 m	—	None	96
Lebanon	Diplomatic relations Full relations; Iran backs Hezbollah, a political party and armed movement in Lebanon.	Member Arabic — Semitic	25–30%	$28 m / $14 m	$11 m / $60 m	Scheduled	118
Israel	None (1979) No relations since 1979; Iran does not recognise Israel. Direct military exchanges 2024–2026.	No Hebrew — Semitic (not Arabic)	<1%	$0 m / $0 m	—	None	946
Palestine	Diplomatic relations Iran recognises the State of Palestine and backs Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.	Member Arabic — Semitic	<1%	$0 m / $0 m	—	None	222
Jordan	Diplomatic relations Relations maintained at a reduced level; Jordan intercepted Iranian projectiles over its territory in 2024–2026.	Member Arabic — Semitic	<1%	$69 m / $9 m	$4 m / $54 m	None	79
Saudi Arabia	Restored (2023) Severed 2016; restored March 2023 under a China-brokered agreement; embassies reopened.	Member Arabic — Semitic	10–15%	$15 m / $0 m	$0 m / $0 m	Scheduled	964
Yemen	Contested Iran accredits its ambassador to the Houthi (Ansar Allah) authorities in Sanaa; the internationally recognised Yemeni government severed ties in 2015.	Member Arabic — Semitic	35–40%	$4 m / $0 m	—	None	649
Oman	Close relations Full relations; Oman has mediated between Iran and the US.	Member Arabic — Semitic	5–10%	$1.1 bn / $759 m	$554 m / $320 m	Scheduled	362
United Arab Emirates	Severed (2026) UAE withdrew its ambassador and closed its Tehran embassy on 1 March 2026 after Iranian missile and drone strikes on UAE territory; suspended trade and financial transactions 18 August 2026.	Member Arabic — Semitic	10–15%	$6.0 bn / $18.0 bn	$5.8 bn / $453 m	Scheduled	148
Qatar	Close relations Full relations; shared South Pars/North Dome gas field; Qatar has mediated.	Member Arabic — Semitic	8–10%	$127 m / $50 m	$7 m / $135 m	Scheduled	147
Bahrain	None (2016) Bahrain severed ties January 2016; restoration discussed since 2023 but not completed. Iranian strikes on Bahrain Feb–Mar 2026.	Member Arabic — Semitic	60–70%	$10 m / $1 m	$0 m / $17 m	None	43
Kuwait	Diplomatic relations Full relations; maritime boundary and Arash/Dorra gas field dispute.	Member Arabic — Semitic	25–30%	$208 m / $14 m	$21 m / $297 m	Scheduled	25
Egypt	None (1980) Full relations severed 1980; interest sections only. Ministerial contacts expanded 2023–2025.	Member Arabic — Semitic	<1%	$10 m / $6 m	$2 m / $3 m	None	54
Afghanistan	Diplomatic relations Relations with the Taliban administration without formal recognition; the Afghan embassy in Tehran was handed to Taliban diplomats in 2023.	No Dari/Pashto — Indo-European	10–15%	$1.6 bn / $29 m	—	Scheduled	31
Pakistan	Diplomatic relations Full relations; cross-border strikes exchanged January 2024, then repaired.	No Urdu — Indo-European	10–15%	$1.4 bn / $781 m	$10 m / $943 m	Scheduled	230
Azerbaijan	Diplomatic relations Full relations with recurring tensions (Israel ties; 2023 attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran).	No Azerbaijani — Turkic	65–75%	$462 m / $37 m	$14 m / $473 m	Scheduled	158
Armenia	Diplomatic relations Full relations; Iran opposes any change to Armenia's southern border (Syunik).	No Armenian — Indo-European	<1%	$370 m / $13 m	$95 m / $597 m	Scheduled	34
Turkmenistan	Diplomatic relations Full relations; gas swap arrangements.	No Turkmen — Turkic	<1%	$435 m / $28 m	—	None	0
Russia	Strategic partnership treaty (2025) Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed 17 January 2025 (20 years).	No Russian	<1%	$692 m / $1.5 bn	—	Scheduled	553
China	Strategic partnership treaty (2021) 25-year cooperation agreement signed 27 March 2021; largest trading partner.	No Chinese	<1%	$22.4 bn / $15.6 bn	$10.0 bn / $4.6 bn	Scheduled	481
India	Diplomatic relations Full relations; 10-year Chabahar port agreement (May 2024).	No Hindi and others	1–2%	$1.9 bn / $2.7 bn	$1.2 bn / $1.0 bn	Scheduled	351
United States	None (1980) No diplomatic relations since April 1980; the Swiss embassy in Tehran represents US interests.	No English	<1%	$0 m / $88 m	$59 m / $2 m	None	2152

Trade: World Bank WITS, Iran as reporter, 2022 (under sanctions Iran's own figures are incomplete; China and the UAE are also re-export hubs); partner column: partner countries' own customs data on trade with Iran (World Bank WITS, 2023), which captures some of what Iran leaves out. Relations: compiled 6 October 2026 from the public record (bilateral-relations entries on Wikipedia and official statements). Religion: Pew Research Center, Mapping the Global Muslim Population (2009) ranges, and CIA World Factbook, rounded. Flights: Imam Khomeini International Airport airlines and destinations (Wikipedia, September 2026). Artesh does not rate countries as "friends" or "enemies"; the categories are formal diplomatic status.

Questions people ask

Who is Iran's biggest trading partner?

China, by a wide margin: China's own customs data show it sold about $10 billion of goods to Iran and bought about $4.6 billion in 2023, and tanker trackers put unrecorded oil purchases far higher. Then the UAE (largely a re-export hub), Turkey, Iraq, India and Brazil (grain and sugar). The map shows two sets of figures: what Iran reports and what each partner reports; under sanctions the two rarely match.