BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 15. The number of highways in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) will increase with the opening of the Pataveh-Dehdasht highway in the east of Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province as part of the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the province in the coming days, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash said, Trend reports.
The minister noted that a total of 95 trillion rials (about $2.26 billion) has been spent on the 136 km-long highway.
Bazrpash added that 12 tunnels and 13 bridges were built on the mentioned highway. The construction of this road started for over 20 years ago.
According to him, the Pataveh-Dehdasht highway will also connect Iran's southwest provinces, including Khuzestan Province, with short distances to the central provinces of the country. The highway will result in a distance reduction of 65 km.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reportedly is scheduled to visit Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province on July 17-18.
The foundation of the ‘International North-South Transport Corridor’ was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Türkiye, etc.
The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.
Iran's 175 km-long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167 km long Rasht-Astara railway line will be built in Iran.
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