BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The amount of Iran's revenues from products transit amounted to about $700 million in the last Iranian year (from March 21, 2019 to March 20, 2020), Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to Eslami, about 8 million tons of products were transited via Iran in the last Iranian year, despite serious restrictions, including US sanctions against Iran.
Eslami added that minimum 90 million tons of products a year can be transited through the North-South Corridor.
The minister emphasized that the commissioning of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway on the Iranian part of the North-South Corridor is in the spotlight.
The minister noted that at present, the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway is completed by 52 percent.
“Work is also underway to build the Rasht-Astara railway which will connect Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia," he said.
The construction of the 720-kilometer Chabahar-Zahedan railway began in 2010. In 2014, the construction of this railway was accelerated by changing the contractor. So far, 17 trillion rials (about $404 million) has been spent on the construction of this railway, and it is estimated that 40 trillion rials (about $952 million) will be required to complete the project. After commissioning, 100 million tons of cargo will be transported by railway a year.
About 300 million euros have been allocated by the National Development Fund of Iran for the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway.
The length of the Rasht-Astara railway is 160 kilometers.