Iran seeks to expand cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States in the field of rail transport.
The statements were made by the deputy head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Hossein Ashouri, during the 63rd session of the Council for Rail Transport of CIS and Baltic States held in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent, Azernews reported.
Ashouri added that Iran and Central Asian countries will increase cooperation in the railroad sector.
The official praised the results of cooperation with the members of the council, highlighting the significant role of railroads in developing trade between regional countries.
He positively evaluated the increasing cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan among their railroads.
Ashouri looked forward to further development of favorable cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan in 2016.
“Tehran and Tashkent already cooperate in transporting Uzbekistan’s agricultural products to other countries,” he said.
A railroad linking Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran began operating last December.
In 2007, an agreement was signed for the construction of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran Railroad, while construction work began in 2009.
The railroad is part of the international North-South Transport Corridor, which joins the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea through Iran and then continues to St. Petersburg and northern Europe via Russia.
The combined network of CIS railroads carried 1.4 billion tons of cargo in the first nine months of 2015.
