Tehran, Iran, February 19
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Iran has announced it is ready to dig a water canal to make the Dogharoon border checkpoint with Afghanistan usable again, IRNA news agency reported February 19.
The checkpoint has been closed for two days as the area was covered with water after heavy rain.
Javad Vahdati, a transport official of Iran’s Razavi Khorasan Province said if a canal is dug, the checkpoint will be available for use in two days.
The checkpoint is over 100 years old and lets through over 50 percent of Razavi Khorasan Province’s over-border trade.
Each day over 350 trucks use the checkpoint to travel to Afghanistan. Iran’s export to Afghanistan via this checkpoint amounts to 130,000 tons per year.
Iran and Afghanistan last August signed an agreement that allows unique transport benefits to Afghan tradesmen.
The two countries also agreed to create better business opportunities for each other around their shared border, including in Malik, Mahirud, Dogharoon in Iran, and Herat, Nimrooz, and Farah in Afghanistan.