BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4. Iran is working to enhance cargo transit and transportation through the North-South and East-West corridors, accelerating the related processes to increase efficiency, said the country’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh, Trend reports.
Speaking today during a press conference in Tehran, Sadegh noted that numerous meetings have been organized with neighboring countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, over the past months to discuss these corridors’ potential and improve their effectiveness.
The Minister highlighted that Iran continues its diplomatic efforts with regional countries, considering the strategic significance of these international corridors for further developing transport networks.
To note, an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000, laid the foundation for the North-South Transport Corridor. In general, several countries have ratified the said agreement. (Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Bulgaria, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Sultanate of Oman, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Türkiye, Ukraine). The purpose of creating the corridor is to reduce the time of delivery of goods coming from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks; it is expected to be three weeks via “North-South”).
The Qazvin-Rasht railroad (175 km) was put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijan's railroads with Iran's railway network within the corridor. The Rasht-Astara railroad is to be built on Iranian territory.
The North-South Corridor has three directions within Iran. The eastern direction is Turkmenistan and Central Asian countries; the middle direction is Russia and other countries across the Caspian Sea; and the western direction is Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern European countries.
Furthermore, Iran places significant importance on the East-West International Corridor, particularly in terms of rail transport for cargo transit. The country is aiming to be part of the East-West Corridor, which stretches almost 2,000 km and connects China with European countries.
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