Tehran, Iran, July 29
By A. Shirazi - Trend:
Hossein Ashouri, deputy head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railroads, said impending US sanctions would not be able to affect the development of rail cooperation between Iran and Russia.
“US sanctions have never been able to influence the promotion of rail cooperation between Tehran and Moscow,” Ashouri said on July 29, IRNA news agency reported.
He added that the Islamic Republic would continue its cooperation with rail networks in east and west.
“The rail cooperation between Iran and Russia is growing,” the official stressed, adding that the country’s rail network is waiting to join the 164-kilometer-long Qazvin-Rasht rail link and later to the Astara-Astara railroad, which is part of a bigger project to connect Iran and Azerbaijan’s rail system.
In 2017, India sent a consignment to Russia through a much-awaited new intercontinental multi-modal corridor that connects its port city of Mumbai to Russia’s St Petersburg.
The consignment departed for Iran’s Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas in mid-January and was thereon taken through the Iranian territory to Azerbaijan’s Baku through road and rail. It was then taken to Russia by train.
The Astara-Astara railroad is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor that runs 8 kilometers in Azerbaijan up to the border from where it extends 2 km to Iran’s port city of Astara.