Relationship dossier
Iran
Kazakhstan
Relationship assessment
Practical cooperation in transport and Caspian affairs, with broader economic ties less clear
Iran toward Kazakhstan
+35Iran joined Kazakhstan and other Caspian littoral states in signing the 2018 Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. The Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran railway, opened in 2014, also established a concrete transport connection serving regional links with Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan toward Iran
+35Kazakhstan hosted rounds of international nuclear negotiations with Iran in Almaty in 2013. It also signed the 2018 Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea with Iran and participated in the railway project linking Kazakhstan through Turkmenistan to Iran, opened in 2014.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship has practical foundations in regional transport and Caspian cooperation, including the railway connection opened in 2014 and the 2018 Caspian Sea convention. Kazakhstan's hosting of nuclear negotiations with Iran adds a diplomatic dimension. The relationship appears cooperative, while the scope and durability of wider economic ties are less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Iran and Kazakhstan have developed practical cooperation in transport and Caspian affairs. The Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran railway, opened in 2014, created a direct regional transport link, and both countries signed the 2018 Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan also hosted rounds of international nuclear negotiations with Iran in 2013. These ties are cooperative, though the scale and implementation of broader bilateral economic cooperation are unclear.
Key developments
Kazakhstan hosted rounds of international nuclear negotiations with Iran in Almaty.
The Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran railway opened, creating a regional rail link between Kazakhstan and Iran.
Iran and Kazakhstan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of broader bilateral economic agreements are unclear.
- The scale of trade and transport cooperation in recent years is uncertain.