I just crossed from Beshmaq Iran / Panjwin Iraq. I had heard foreigners could cross, so i did. However there is one hickup - Iran would not stamp my Carnet De Passage out of the country.

Iraq stamped my Carnet - even though I know its not meant to work...

Its an easy but messy border as it is under construction and when I was there is was all mud (due to the massive rain we have just had) In the future it will be a nice border to cross.

I wouldnt recommend exiting into Iran at this border - just because you might have problems if you were not stamped into the country with your carnet. In fact they made sure I wasnt going to come back into Iran through this border.

I have contacted Australian Automobile Association to see what problems ive caused by crossing this border.

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Interesting. Thanks for the info.

Safe travels, cheers,
Julian

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One missing stamp shouldn't be a problem as long as the stamps either side match up, which it sounds like they do in your case. I returned an Aus carnet with a missing stamp earlier this year and it was fine getting the deposit back.

Hey,
just a quick update on this thread. I crossed this border in jan2012 from Iraq to Iran despite the above warning i thought i would give it a try, however I wouldn't recommend going through in this direction.
The Iranian customs officers even though they were very friendly and helpful told me they weren't set up to deal with foriegn vehicles crossing into Iran and couldn't stamp my carnet. i was told that i could enter the country but my bike would have to stay in iraq. This wasn't ideal and so after spending two days at the border they eventually spoke to someone in Tehran who gave them the green light to let my bike in aswell as stamping my carnet and adding a cover letter for the customs officers when i left the country.
The situation at this crossing might get better once they have finshed building it, but at present its still under construction and seems to be more for local traffic at the moment.
cheers, MattC.

I went through this crossing from Iran to Iraq at the end of March this year.
The crossing area is still like a large building site, but i was lucky and it was dry, so apart from the dust - of which there was plenty being kicked up by the hundreds of trucks - and deeply rutted construction site like roads which were not suited to an R1, it was all pretty straight forward.......except for the stamping of the Carnet.
No one seemed to know much about them and were really quite disinterested in having anything to do with it. I had to just keep asking by who and when they were going to stamp it, even after all the other formalities were completed.
Eventually one of the immigration guys took me to another temprary portacabin office and handed the problem to someone there, Again they kept telling me that an exit stamp was not required, but after some time and showing them the entry stamp from Bander Abbas port, they did agree to stamp it.....but not in the right place and i had to keep at them to stamp it correctly, which they finally did.
If anyone is planning to pass through this crossing point, you must keep bothering them (politely of course), until you get the stamp that you need, or it might be expensive when you try and retrieve your deposit.
I haven't been able to claim mine back yet as i'm in the UK and the issuing authority is in Abu Dhabi, but hopefully one day i will get back out there to re-claim the £7000 that they wanted to issue the CdP.

You might hear from Iranian customs after 7-8 months after entry trough the Automobile association. The Iranian Bazargan - Taftan border are connected through a customs system. If you get in at either border, the system checks if you got out at the other border.

I got in at Taftan (Pakistan) and left through Bandar Abbas. 8 months later I had a letter from Iranian customs claiming my deposit. Since i had READABLE entry stamps from UAE customs it was easy. Iranian customs dropped their claim after 2 months. The exit stamp from Bandar Abas customs was hardly readable, though i bend over backwards to get the darn stamp.

3 months later I got a claim from Indian customs - same story, pakistan / nepal stamps matched. Indian customs never replied on this evidence but never dropped the claim. I returned the CdP and got my deposit back anyway.

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Arno
Overland by 4x4 truck

Its been 7 months since I crossed that boarder with no claims that I know of. But I contacted my Carnet supplier and they told me no to worry - dodgy countries will try it on, but as my carnet supplier said as long as you can prove you have the vehicle with you you are ok and they can not insist on a claim.

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For India it's the notorious 180 days rule - which is meticulously checked at the Wagah border on exit. Indian customs claims the deposit / vehicle once they find the vehicle was there 180+ days.

Even when cleared at the border, they still can file a claim later-on. They just try if one can re-produce the evidence...and if submitted they just leave it.

The 6 month rule only has significance when issued (extended) visa's can reach 6 months or more or when re-entering the country with a vehicle multiple times during a year.

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Arno
Overland by 4x4 truck

Hi all,
we're a Dutch couple travelling by car and looking forward to check-out North-Iraq within a couple of months. As long as you get a stamp at exit of Iran then this border crossing should be okay. And better then driving via Turkey I think.

So you still get a 10 days visa on the border of Iraq? And they stamp your Carnet (altough that has no use), that is all you have to do for getting your car/bike in?

Is this the border on the road between Soran (Iraq) and Piranshar (Iran)? I cannot find it for now (will spend more time on it later)

It's nice to read that it's still possible to visit North-Iraq. It seems that the Syrian conflict has not had it's effect yet, although it would be nice to hear more recent stories to confirm that.
Entering from Iran and going out at Zarkho would be a nice route.

Thanks in advance,
R

13/10/2014 I cross this border (Beshmaq on the Iranian side, Beshmakh on the Iraqi side, though widelyreferred to as Penjween).

I crossed from Iran into Iraq.

Iran side was surprisingly calm. Lots of fuel trucks, but with a car / bike one drives straight to the front and the main border station.

Carnet was stamped with no fuss, though the stamp is a Persian-only one, not the normal bilingual stamps one gets from customs at Iranian borders. Very simple. Just as I was leaving there was a guy wanting the receipt for the dreaded fuel tax, but with a bit of protesting (I am a tourist etc), it was dropped. Nice since I was carrying 85 litres of Iranian diesel Going back to the fuel control station would be hell as it is in all the chaos of the lorries, and nobody would speak English etc.

On the Iraqi side, everything was calm and organised. I queued for my visa stamp (it's now 15 days visa-free for most nationals), no problems. Customs issued some kind of entry certificate for the car (1993 Toyota Hilux 4x4 Diesel). This was very simple, I just needed photocopies of my passport, vehicle registration document and IDP (I am sure a domestic license would be fine). It cost IQD 22,000, which is about US$ 20.

Then I was free to go. Driving standards in Iraqi Kurdistan is better than Iran (not saying much admittedly), and the roads so far are all good!

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

We just crossed from Iran to Iraq at Piranshar, and continued to Turkey, exiting North Iraq / Kurdistan at Zakho. All without problems.


Along the ISIS front from Grozny via Erbil & Kobane to Kilis