Envoy to Russia Highlights Importance of INSTC

Iran's Ambassador in Moscow Kazem Jalali said the recent blockage of the Suez Canal by a huge container ship has once again highlighted the importance of the International North–South Transport Corridor, as the incident has caused up to $15 billion of daily losses for the global economy.
According to the Twitter account of Iran’s mission in Moscow, Jalali reiterated the necessity of completing INSTC as an alternative.
His comments came after a huge container ship (224,000-ton and 400-meter-long) ran aground and stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping, for several days.
The massive vessel got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the narrow canal, which runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula, about six kilometers north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.
The first vessel to cross the Suez Canal after the days-long "traffic jam" was reportedly a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship named "YM Wish".
According to MarineTraffic.com, many ships followed YM Wish's successful crossing of the channel. 
Earlier, Osama Rabie, the head of Suez Canal Authority, said that by 8 a.m. [Tuesday, March 30] morning [0600 GMT], 113 ships would have passed through the canal in both directions.
"By operationalizing the Caspian West Railway Corridor in parallel with the East Caspian Railway Corridor, all countries located along the INSTC will benefit from its economic benefits, especially in terms of saving time and cost of transporting goods and earning transit revenues," Jalali tweeted.
"Implementation of Rasht-Astara, Zahedan-Birjand railways and electrification of Garmsar-Incheh Borun railway in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran will finalize the Eastern and Western parts of the INSTC," he continued.
The Iranian envoy noted that the INSTC cuts e transport time by 20 days and reduces costs by 30% compared to the traditional route currently used.
Jalali stressed that the recent incident has underscored the necessity of activating a low-risk alternative to the traditional route.
INSTC is an international multimodal ship, rail and road route that connects Russia and Eastern Europe to India and China through Iran.
Iran is expected to complete 170 kilometers of the railroad between the cities of Rasht and Astara to create a connection with Russia and Finland in Europe.
Suez Canal is an important global shipping route accounting for about 15% of world shipping traffic.