TEHRAN, Iran, Dec. 27
Trend:
Iran and Iraq signed a MoU on construction of Basra-Shalamcheh railway, Trend reports via Iranian media outlets.
The Minister of Road and Urban Development of Iran Rostam Ghasemi made the announcement during meetings with his Iraqi counterpart, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and President Barham Salih.
Ghasemi announced that a joint company will be established to manage the project.
He further said that according to one of the MoU’s provisions, the two sides will start the executive operation on the bridge between Iran and Iraq within the next month.
Iran and Iraq signed an MoU in 2011 to build the railway, which was not implemented. In 2014, another MoU was signed between Tehran and Baghdad for the implementation of the project, according to which Iran is committed to design and build a 900-meter bridge over Arvand Rud, known as the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, and the Iraqi side undertook to construct a railway with the length of 32 kilometers from Shalamcheh to Basra.
The entire 32-kilometer railway will be located in the Iraqi territory. Ten years after the the signing of the MoU, the project has not started yet due to the Iraqi side’s failure to fulfill its commitment.
The Shalamcheh-Basra railway is essential because the Iraqi railway is connected from Basra to Karbala and can be welcomed as a railway line for Iranian pilgrims and connected to Jordan from the east of Iraq and to Syria from the northeast. It could also provide Iran with access to Syrian markets.