BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 26. The effective trilateral agreement on international transportation and freight transportation between Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia has increased freight traffic along the North-South International Transport Corridor, the Director General of the International Department of Transport and Transit of the Road Organization of Iran Javad Hedayati told local media, Trend reports.
According to him, over the last seven months (from March 20 through October 21, 2024), 525,000 tons of products have flowed into Iran for the purpose of transit through Astara customs within the framework of the North-South international transport corridor. This is 20 percent more than the same period last year (from March 21 through October 22, 2023).
Hedayati noted that 76,000 trucks crossed the border of Astara during seven months.
Meanwhile, a trilateral meeting was held in Baku in September 2022 with the participation of officials from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. A declaration on the development of the North-South international transportation corridor was signed at the meeting.
The intergovernmental agreement signed on September 12, 2000, between Russia, Iran, and India laid the foundation for the North-South Transport Corridor. In general, a number of countries have ratified the said agreement. (Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Bulgaria, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Sultanate of Oman, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Türkiye, Ukraine). The purpose of creating the corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks; through "North-South," it is expected to be 3 weeks).
The Qazvin-Rasht railroad (175 km) was put into operation on March 6, 2019 to connect Azerbaijan Railways with the Iranian railroad network within the corridor. The Rasht-Astara railroad is to be built on the territory of Iran.
The North-South corridor has 3 directions in the territory of Iran. East direction-Turkmenistan and Central Asian countries; Middle direction-Russia and other countries across the Caspian Sea; West direction-Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern European countries.