Russia calls for completion of North-south Transport Corridor

Russia seeks broader cooperation with Iran with the completion of the North-south Transport Corridor, said the Russian ambassador to Iran.

According to Fars News Agency, Levan Jagarian, in a meeting with Governor General of northern Iranian province of Gilan Mostafa Salari on Sunday, added, “We are seeking the completion of North-south corridor and enhancing bilateral ties with Iran.”

The Russian envoy also called for direct flights between Russia’s Astrakhan and the Iranian capital, Tehran.

On November 10, the head of International Transportation Department of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Hossein Ashouri said that tariffs for transportation of freight along the international North-south Transport Corridor may decline following the completion of a railway segment connecting Astara, Iran and the Azerbaijani city of Astara.

“Transportation tariffs may drop after the inauguration of Astara (Iran)-astara (Azerbaijan) railroad within the coming months,” he told Trend on the sidelines of a meeting with railway officials from Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan in Baku.

Noting that Iranian and Azerbaijani sides are working hard to inaugurate the Rasht-qazvin and Astara-astara railway line in the current year, he hoped that the Rashtastara segment would become operational in three years.

Ashouri added that Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and Belarus railways have also agreed to refrain from increasing the tariff for 2018.

The sides will meet again in the next three months in India, to provide information about the capabilities of the transportation corridor to freight forwarders in India as the corridor is expected to be extended to Belarus and Northern Europe.

Ashouri noted that the three countries of Finland, Estonia and Latvia may join the corridor in the near future.

The International North-south Transport Corridor will connect Northern Europe to Southeast Asia. It will also link the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

In the initial stage, the corridor will transport five million tons of cargo per year and the figure will rise to over 10 million tons in the future.