BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 29. Iran attaches great
importance to the development of the North-South and East-West
international transport corridors, Iranian Minister of Roads and
Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh said.


According to Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, she
made the remarks on July 29 during a meeting in Tehran with members
of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee.


“Several issues are of great importance for Iran, including
attracting investment in the country’s northern ports,
strengthening freight transportation and transit diplomacy,
expanding cooperation with regional countries, and developing the
country’s eastern and western terminals,” she said.


Sadegh noted that during her visits to regional countries,
including Kazakhstan, important agreements were reached on the
development of transit corridors, adding that a clear increase in
freight transportation through Iran is being observed.


The Iranian minister said that work is continuing on one of the
country’s key railway projects, the Chabahar–Zahedan railway line.
Rail laying operations are expected to be completed by the end of
the summer, while the railway line is scheduled to be commissioned
in September or October.







The Chabahar–Zahedan railway line in Iran has a total length of
786 kilometers, including railway stations. Construction work is
currently underway on 634 kilometers of the line, while 152
kilometers have already been put into operation.


Earlier, Farzaneh Sadegh told Trend in an exclusive interview that the operational
work on the Chabahar-Zahedan railway has accelerated over the past
1.5 years, and rail laying along the line will be completed within
the next month.


“In the spring, the railway line is expected to become
operational. This is a highly complex railway line, as numerous
tunnels and bridges had to be constructed.


The importance of this railway lies in connecting international
waters via Chabahar port to the city of Zahedan and to Iran’s
national railway network. This means that countries located in
eastern Iran, Central Asia, as well as in southern and western
Iran, will gain access to international waters through the
Chabahar-Zahedan railway, as they are connected to Iran’s railway
network,” she said.