TEHRAN, Iran, June.30
By Sara Riazi - Trend:
Following Iran and Iraq agreement for Shalamche- Basra railway construction, it has been expected that a team would follow the contract progress and conditions of Iraq providing land to the Iranian contractor company said the deputy in the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company.,
"Iran's top official in the Ministry of Road and Urban Development visited Iraq to follow the construction of Shalamche- Basra railway in March and signed an agreement with his Iraqi counterpart," Abbas Khatibi told Trend interview.
"Deputy Minister of Road and Urban Development Mahmoud Ghaffari has visited Iraq last week with a delegation that included Iran Railway Company and Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company that want to invest in Shalamche Basra railway project," he noted.
"There have been meetings with the director-general of Iraq railway and technical deputy of Iraq Ministry of Transport and the Minister of Transportation during this trip. There were various discussions relating to the construction of Shalamche-Basra railway construction during this visit between an Iranian delegation and the Iraq Ministry of Transportation," Khatibi added.
"Providing land (to Iranian contractor) is one of the obligations of Iraqi side, the two sides are committed to introducing their specific representatives for this case, to have various official meetings and provide reports and eventually start the operation," he said.
"After approval of the company as the contractor by the Iraqi government, the process of land ownership in Iraq started, that is 32 kilometers route in Iraq soil, there should also be some work done for a terminal in Iran soil," he said referring to railway construction project procedure in coming months.
"According to the agreement, the Iraqi side would be obligated to provide rail, pin and traverse to us and complete the land ownership work, the rest of the investment would be provided by Iran. The contractor company would profit from the construction of this railway," Khatibi stated.