Iran and Russia signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section

Baku/17.05.23/Turan: The agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astaran railway section was signed in Tehran on Wednesday by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mehrdad Bazrpash and the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Saveliev, IRNA reports.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisi took part in the ceremony, Putin participated in it via video link. From the Russian side, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is on a working visit to Iran, also joined the ceremony.

According to the document, Moscow and Tehran will jointly finance the design, construction, as well as the supply of goods and services.

The length of the Rasht-Astara line will be 170 km. It is needed to connect the land sections of the international North-South transport corridor, which will increase the economic efficiency of the trans-Caspian route. It is assumed that the Rasht-Astara line will be built with the participation of Moscow and Tehran, and the Astara line (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) - with the participation of Moscow, Tehran and Baku.

After the launch of the Rasht–Astara railway, cargo and containers from Moscow and St. Petersburg can be transported directly and non-stop to the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran in the Persian Gulf. On the other hand, goods imported by Russia from India, Arab countries and Iran will also be able to be delivered through Azerbaijan to Russia from Iran's southern ports in the Persian Gulf.

So, the North-South transport corridor will pass through Azerbaijan. This extremely important decision further strengthens the status and importance of Azerbaijan as a transport hub of the South Caucasus and makes it pointless to build a parallel highway from Iran to Armenia and further to Georgia.

Goods coming from the Persian Gulf to Europe will be transported from Azerbaijan to Georgia and further to the Black Sea. Thus, there is no need to restore the Abkhazian section of the railway between Georgia and Armenia. ---02D---