Iran is paying special attention to the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway in the north of the country as one of the important projects within the framework of the North-South international transport corridor, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development and Chair of the State Commission for Economic, Trade, and Humanitarian Cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, Farzaneh Sadegh told Trend in an exclusive interview.
The Iranian minister emphasized that the project, which has been the focus of attention in recent months and is expected to be completed at an accelerated pace, is the linking of the Rasht-Astara railway.
''The Rasht-Astara railway is part of the development of the North-South international transport corridor. There is simply no railway on this section of the corridor. The Iranian side will complete the process of purchasing the land where the railroad will run by the end of the year. The Russian side has begun studying the issue of railway construction, the minister stressed.
According to her, the Baku meeting on economics and trade, organized between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia, was effective. Preparations for it took a long time. The decisions made at the meeting and the issues whose implementation was noted as important were significant.
Sadegh noted that the trilateral meeting specifically highlighted and adopted the topic of preparing a roadmap to achieve the goal of transporting 15 million tons of cargo per year between the three countries. Of course, this goal is achievable, and this roadmap will undoubtedly solve all problems that arise in the future.
“It is expected that significant progress will be made in the construction of this railway over the next three years,” she noted.
The minister noted that another issue that drew attention at the Baku meeting was the simplification of the transit and cargo transportation process, given that the meeting was attended by customs officials from three countries.
''This issue was also given special attention at the meeting. Most of the transit in this direction is not only related to infrastructure. It is extremely important to consider various simplifications for sea, land, and rail transport. The most important thing is to apply simplifications in the field of freight transport and land transit,'' she emphasized.
The Iranian minister added that both the trilateral meeting and the bilateral meetings highlighted the increase in the number of trucks passing through all border crossings between Iran and Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan and Russia.
“Another important issue at the Baku meeting was the energy sector, the creation of gas and electricity corridors. All three countries are interested in expanding cooperation in this area, taking practical measures, and implementing the agreements reached. We will soon see the positive results of these steps,” she concluded.
