BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 6. Cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in the development of joint infrastructure projects and transit within the framework of the eastern route of the North-South International Transport Corridor is of great importance, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh said, Trend reports.
She made the remark at a meeting with Kazakhstan's Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev at the 3rd UN Meeting on Landlocked Developing Countries, held on August 6 in Turkmenistan.
According to her, the Iranian side hopes for the speedy implementation of the provisions of the cooperation document signed at the level of deputy ministers of transport between Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
At the meeting, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development also proposed signing a five-year document on cooperation in all transport sectors between the two countries.
The ministers of the two countries agreed to immediately explore opportunities to use the Caspian Sea to expand transport cooperation. Kazakhstan's Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev put forward a proposal for cooperation between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan within the framework of the Caspian Bridge project. This proposal was positively received by Iran, and an agreement was reached to consider its details.
The ministers of the two countries discussed issues related to increasing trade turnover between Iran and Kazakhstan to $3 billion, diversifying transport routes to Iranian ports, logistics, and holding multilateral meetings with neighboring countries on the Caucasus and European directions.
The creation of the North-South transport corridor was based on an intergovernmental agreement between Russia, Iran, and India dated September 12, 2000. In total, this agreement was ratified by a number of countries (the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Bulgaria, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Türkiye, and Ukraine). The purpose of creating the corridor is to reduce the delivery time of goods from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time along the current route is more than 6 weeks, while the North-South route is expected to take 3 weeks).
On March 6, 2019, the Qazvin-Rasht railway (175 km) was put into operation as part of the corridor, connecting the Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network. The Rasht-Astara railway is to be built on Iranian territory.
The North-South Corridor has three directions across Iranian territory. The eastern direction is Turkmenistan and the countries of Central Asia, the middle direction is Russia and other countries across the Caspian Sea, and the western direction is Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and the countries of Eastern Europe.
On May 17, 2023, Russia and Iran signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway in the province of Gilan in northern Iran. Nine stations will be built on the Resht-Astara railway line, which is approximately 163 km long. Upon completion of this railway, the North-South international corridor will be improved, and Iran's railway network will be connected to the Caucasus countries, Russia, and Northern Europe. According to the agreement, the Russian side is expected to allocate 1.6 billion euros for the construction of this railway. The construction and completion of the railway is planned to take 48 months.