Due to its central location, Qeshm Island suffers from the consequences of geopolitics, as a large part of its 150,000 population has derived its resources for centuries from commercial exchanges with the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, and the coasts of East Africa.
“The most important thing in life is to be on good terms with our neighbors,” says Iranian merchant Muhammad Bazmandakan, pinning great hopes on the resumption of diplomatic relations between his country and the Gulf states after seven years of tension.
The man in his fifties imports from Dubai the bulk of the household electrical appliances that he sells in his large store in Qeshm, the island located in southern Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic sea lane in the Gulf.
Al-Tajer explains that he is “following with interest” the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two major powers in the Middle East, which will officially reopen their embassies in Riyadh and Tehran in the coming days.
On March 10, the two countries announced that they had reached an agreement after a seven-year estrangement following the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran over the kingdom’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Another trader, Hassan Ibrahimi (52 years old), hopes that the détente in the region will allow “improving relations with the rest of the world” and lead to the lifting of economic sanctions imposed by the West, led by the United States, on Iran.
– Tradition of exchange –
Due to its central location, Qeshm Island suffers from the consequences of geopolitics, as a large part of its 150,000 population has derived its resources for centuries from commercial exchanges with the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia and the coasts of East Africa.
Among them is Hassan Rostom, 62, who has been sailing “for forty years” between the Iranian coast and Dubai, less than 200 km away.
“I bring all kinds of vegetables to the Emirates from Qeshm and Bandar Abbas,” says the man who owns the “Linga”, a traditional wooden ship commonly used in Gulf ports.
Navigation traffic between the two shores declined after the diplomatic boycott in 2016, without stopping completely due to the continuation of trade, business and traditions.
Pazmandakan said that even if “the market has become less stable,” “relationships of mutual trust, the fruit of years of cooperation,” allowed Iranian and Emirati merchants to continue their exchanges.
This is demonstrated by the wide range of merchandise available in his shop in central Qeshm, from fans to coffee machines and washing machines from major international home appliances brands such as Philips and Toshiba, often from countries that impose sanctions on Iran.
The trader explained that these goods arrive “thanks to our Emirati mediators,” stressing that “90 percent of the products” offered “come from Dubai.”
– “Stress” –
The man admits that many of the island’s merchants have struggled in recent years to “avoid bankruptcy,” noting that “one of the competitors died of a heart attack due to the daily fluctuations in prices.”
“Apart from trade, the severance of relations affected our private life as well,” said Noureddine Tata, who owns a guest house in central Qeshm.
He explained that the island’s residents suffered “psychological pressure” due to the difficulties of administrative procedures and transportation in order to “bring in or visit their family members residing” in the Gulf states.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are among the millions of foreigners residing in the UAE, some for decades.
With the ongoing rapprochement, Iran is expected to resume flights with Gulf countries, and the authorities have reported that they plan to organize three weekly flights between Tehran and Riyadh.
The Islamic Republic also hopes to benefit from the development of free zones that it established nearly thirty years ago in order to attract foreign investors and tourists to the south of the country.
Thanks to the small tourist island of Kish and the port of Chabahar on the Indian Ocean, Qeshm enjoys tax exemptions and freedom in importing and exporting goods.
And the island seeks to attract Iranian tourists to its huge shopping centers in search of foreign products that they cannot find in other stores, from chocolates to luxury brand clothes.
Noureddine Tata said that since the break with the Gulf states, “shops no longer offer the same assortment of goods, and the number of their patrons has decreased,” and he hopes, like many residents of Qeshm, that the resumption of relations with the Gulf states will put the island on the map of popular kisses in the Middle East.
ab-jr/d/bm
