The construction of a 32-kilometer-long Shalamcheh-Basra railroad, which will connect Iran and Iraq, is to start within a month using Iranian private sector investments, according to the deputy minister of roads and urban development, Mahmoud Ghaffari.
“Investments of up to €100 million are required to complete the project. The Iranian private sector will provide this amount and the funding and other requirements to start the project will be finalized and agreed upon by next week,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.
Kheirollah Khademi, another deputy roads minister, says Iran is ready to implement the project in Iraq, expecting the Iraqi government to designate the land for the project to Iranian companies and contractors.
The official, who also heads the main infrastructure company in Iran’s transportation system, the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, added that the go-ahead for the construction of the project was only waiting for the Iraqi side to carry out its part of the commitment.
Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami considers the construction of Shalamcheh-Basra Railroad as the main priority of the ministry under his watch.
The launch of the railroad will boost Iran's exports to Iraq and from this route to West Asian and North African countries.
In order to complete the Shalamcheh-Basra Railroad, the 17-kilometer Khorramshahr-Shalamcheh Railroad was completed in 2011 to connect Iranian railroads to the Iraqi city of Basra.
With the start of the first tenure of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, the completion of Shalamcheh railroad to Basra was seriously considered by the government to facilitate the travel of Iranian pilgrims, especially during the Arbaeen pilgrimage season so that travelers could use this rail link from Iran via Basra to Karbala and other holy cities of Iraq.
While Iraqi passenger and freight trains are using the rail link of Basra to Karbala, Iranian pilgrims have been travelling by train from Tehran to Shalamcheh and from there after a 32-km trip by bus to Basra and depart from Basra to Karbala by Iraqi train.
The Iraqi side failed to build the railroad from Shalamcheh to Basra due to economic problems and a shortage of funds.
‘Fundamental Change’ in the Region
President Rouhani says the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad will connect Iran to Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean, bringing about a fundamental change in the region.
"Iran's Khorramshahr, Abadan and Shalamcheh are located in a very important strategic area," he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency recently.
"Due to the agreement made with the Iraqi government on connecting Shalamcheh to Basra, we will be able to witness a fundamental change in this region."
"This will be a very big change and Iran's railroad will be connected to Iraq and Syria, and in fact to the Mediterranean, which is very important," he added.
‘Historic’ Deal
Talks between Iraq and Iran to build a short rail link between the southern port city of Basra and the town of Shalamcheh, just across the border, are nearing completion, according to a tweet from the office of Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, Iraq’s prime minister.
The line would be the only rail connection between the two countries and would vastly improve communications in the wider region by connecting China’s Belt and Road lines to Iraq and bringing Iran closer to Syria, Global Construction Review reported.
The office of the Iraqi prime minister tweeted: “The negotiations with Iran to build a railway between Basra and Shalamcheh have reached their final stages, and we have signed 15 agreements and memorandums of understanding with Jordan and Egypt regarding energy and transportation lines.”
Funding for the project, which was approved by the Iraqi Cabinet in April, will come from Iran's Mostazafan Foundation.
The link, which has been discussed for many years, was first announced in November 2018, when the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways announced that it hoped to build a line between the two cities.
The Al-Monitor news site reported at the time: “The railway is part of Syria’s reconstruction deal … promoting religious tourism among Iran, Iraq and Syria. Syrian opposition parties, however, have rejected the railway, believing it will entrench Iranian influence and help provide the logistic services necessary for its presence in Iraq and Syria.”
IRNA reported that Iraj Masjedi, Tehran’s ambassador in Baghdad, argued that the rail line could make Iraq a regional transport hub.
He said Iraq could become one of the “largest transit countries in the region”, and that “Iraq can be connected to China through the railroads of the Islamic Republic of Iran and increase its strategic importance in the region”.
Masjedi also suggested that the rail line could lead to an expansion of Basra’s port facilities.
“Now only small ships can dock in this port, but the development and equipping of the port along with the dredging of Arvand River can change the situation and help boost the port’s prosperity and ‘Transit Iraq’.”
