Tehran, Iran, June30
Trend:
Iraq has agreed to cooperate with Iran in dredging Arvand River unconditionally, with the estimated value of the project to be around $1 billion, said the director general of Khorramshahr Port.
"Iraqis agreed to join the dredging Arvand River without political or legal preconditions," said Nourollah Assadi, Trend reports citing Tasnim.
"Two meetings have been held for dredging Arvand river with participation of Iraqis, and it was agreed form a technical committee," he said.
According to the official, the loading and unloading of goods in Khorramshahr port increased by 64 percent from the start of current Iranian year (started March 21, 2019) and the dredging Arvand river would further increase the volume.
"The new thalweg line was agreed upon a meeting in Baghdad and we will soon start dredging Arvand river, although the contract has not been finalized yet. This week, another meeting will be held in Khorramshahr," he said.
"We also negotiated removal of the sunken ships from the river, 10 of which are on Iran side and 14 of which are on Iraqi side of river," he added.
The River Arvand, also known as Shatt al-Arab in Arabic, forms the natural border between Iran and Iraq.