Azerbaijan, Baku, May 11/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iranian ports have a loading and unloading capacity of 184 million tons per year, IRIB quoted head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization Ataollah Sadr as saying.
Last Iranian calendar year, 140 million tons of goods were shipped through the ports, demonstrating a 5-percent growth compared to the year before, he added.
The last Iranian calendar year ended on March 20.
Over 200 ports are in operation across the country, he noted.
In April, Fars News Agency quoted Sadr as saying that Iran earns about 14 trillion rials (about $1.15 billion) annually from transiting goods via ports. Goods at the cost of about $140 billion are annually transited via Iranian ports, he added.
In February, IRNA quoted Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Ali Nikzad as saying that the total capacity of Iranian ports has increased by 80 million tons during the last eight years, reaching 184 million tons.
Emam Khomeini and Shahid Rajaii ports are the two key ports, accounting for 90 percent of the total capacity, he added.
Meanwhile, in February, ISNA quoted Sadr as saying that the construction of 60 small and multi-purpose ports across Iran is underway.
Sadr went on to say that 11 major ports of Iran have the loading and unloading capacity of about 172 million tons.
In December 2012, Sadr said that the capacities of Shahid Rajaee Port, Shahid Beheshti Port, and Bandar Anzali Port will be doubled respectively to 6 million tons, 6 million tons, and 16 million tons.
He added that just 135 million tons of the ports' capacity is currently being used for loading and unloading goods.
The ports have the capacity of 5.7 million TEU, but only 3 million TEU of the capacity is being used, he noted.