Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.23/ Trend F.Karimov/
The transport ministry of Iran needs 50 trillion rials, about $2 billion based on the US dollar official exchange rate of 24,900 rials, to maintain the national road network, but it only has six trillion rials, the Mehr News Agency quoted Transport and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi as saying.
Some 1200 trillion rials worth of projects are underway at the ministry, he said, adding that 220,000 kilometres of roads have been built across the country.
"We are worried about the situation of roads in the future," the minister said.
Transit of goods via Iran grew 10.4 per cent in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 21, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Shahriyar Afandizadeh as saying.
Over 6.42 million tons of goods were transited via Iran in the six-month period, he added.
Fuel, oil products, petrochemicals, construction materials and food products were the main goods transited via Iran.
In September, Transport and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said Iran is planning to transit as much as 50 million tons of goods per year.
In 2012, some 12 million tons of goods were transited through the country, he added.
Over 820,000 tons of Iranian and foreign trucks transported goods through the country in 2012, he said.
In August, Afandizadeh said that over 11.6 million tons of goods were transited through Iran last year.
Afandizadeh added that 106 countries transited their goods via Iran. Iraq, China, the UAE, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan transited the highest amounts of goods, he noted.