Polish haulier Milton Group recently completed a full round trip using Iraq’s newly operational TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) corridors, transporting yacht engines and spare parts entirely by road. The route passed through Bulgaria, Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia before reaching the customer in the UAE.
The journey marks one of the first commercial uses of the Iraq TIR corridor since it became fully operational three months ago. The truck entered Iraq via the Ibrahim Al-Khalil border crossing from Türkiye and exited into Jordan at Traibeel. A return load from the UAE to Poland was also arranged, completing the round trip in the same timeframe.
The 10-day duration represents a 58% reduction compared to traditional multimodal sea-road routes between Europe and the Gulf region, which typically take around 24 days.
IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto said the launch of the corridor followed years of planning by the Iraqi authorities and regional partners.
“This marks only the beginning of what promises to be a landmark development for resilient regional connectivity across the Middle East via Iraq,” he said, noting the corridor offers more flexibility and resilience for operators navigating regional uncertainty.
The new route is expected to provide an alternative to congested seaports and support Iraq’s ambition to become a regional logistics hub. The TIR system, managed by IRU and backed by the United Nations, allows for secure and simplified customs procedures across international borders.
Milton Group has previously operated multimodal routes between Europe and the Middle East, but this is its first use of the full overland corridor via Iraq under TIR.
