The government needs 60 trillion rials ($2.24 billion) in investment to build rural roads and reach the target set in Iran’s 5th Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2011-2015).The ministry of roads and urban development can build over 17,000 kilometers of roads, within the next two years “if it receives 50 trillion rials ($1.87 billion) of funding from the budget,” said Seyed Hossein Mirshafi, the deputy minister. Based on the fifth development plan, Iran must have 120,000 kilometres of paved and 138,000 kilometres of unpaved roads in its rural areas. To cover all villages with over 20 families, until 2025, the ministry should build 173,000 kilometers of paved roads, adding them to the 205,000 kilometers of existing roads of which around half are unpaved.
