Iran, Russia Explore Caspian Transit Ties

Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and Igor Levitin, a special aide to the Russian president, discussed multimodal transportation and maritime freight transit via the Caspian Sea.
Noting that cooperation in the transport sector is of mutual benefit, Bazrpash said although marine trade between Russia and Iran has a long history, using the potential of the two countries’ ports in the Caspian Sea can be considered in the framework of new cooperation, Iran.ru reported.
As an example of “giant progress in mutual maritime trade development,” the minister mentioned the ferry “Kompozitor Gasanov” that berthed at Noshahr Port on May 2, 2022, after a 20-year pause.
The preliminary agreement on shipbuilding reached between Russia and Iran at the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2022 and the launch of a transit train from Russia to Iran using the International North-South Transportation Corridor in October 2022 suggest more efficient cooperation in the transport sphere, Bazrpash added.
Earlier this year, Levitin visited Tehran where he met with First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber. The parties discussed completing the building of INSTC, Sea News reported on Wednesday.