BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 2. Iran and Russia aim to boost their trade and transit by moving 10 million tons of goods per year, Trend reports.
A video meeting yesterday (December 1) was held between Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Shahriar Afandizadeh and Russia's Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport Dmitri Zverev.
They discussed ways to improve cargo transportation and overcome the issues that are impeding it and in the range of reached agreements, they also agreed to expedite visa processing for truck drivers from both countries.
Afandizadeh told about the potential of Iranian ports to increase maritime routes between the two countries in the Caspian Sea and to convey commodities from Russia to various locations.
The parties went over the status of the Rasht-Astara railway project, which is part of the North-South International Corridor.
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 the 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-kilometer-long Rasht-Astara railway line will be built in Iran.
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