Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 10
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Khatam-ol Anbia Construction Headquarters which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has undertaken construction of the Chabahr-Zahedan-Mashhad railway, Iranian Khorshid newspaper reported on Dec. 10.
The 1,350 kilometres long railroad which is set to connect southern Iran with the east, will start in Chabahar in the southern province of Sistan and Baluchistan. It will then cross Iranshahr, Khash and Zahedan in the same province and end in Mashhad in eastern Iran.
The Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad railway is among the country's major railway plans, which will play a significant role in developing eastern Iran as well as the Chabahar free trade zone.
The railway will also change considerably trade and good transit to Iran's eastern neighbors and the Central Asia region.
In 2010, the railroad project was inaugurated by then president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but did not progress due to high construction costs.
Iranian Road and Transportation Ministry was unable to find any company willing to finance the project.
Khatam-ol-Anbia which has been granted the no-tender contract of the rail-way project is a giant company firm with 25,000 employees. It controls over 812 registered companies inside and outside Iran. Some 10 per cent of the company's employees are IRGC members and the rest are contractors. The company is connected to Iran's oil and gas industry.
On April 25, 2009, a consortium controlled by Khatam-ol-Anbia purchased a 51.18 per cent controlling stake in Iran's naval-industrial giant South Pars. In May 2010, the Iranian government granted Khatam-ol-Anbia the rights to develop phases 13, 14, 22, 23 and 24 of South Pars. On April 30, 2011, Iran's Oil Ministry granted two no-tender contracts to the company for the development of the Halgan and Sefid Baghoon gas fields in South Pars.
Edited by C.N.