Cargo from Russia to Iran to be transported through Azerbaijan

By Azernews

Sabina Mammadli

Cargo to be dispatched regularly by railways from Russia will be transported through Azerbaijan to Iran’s Astara city in Gilan Province in the north of the country, Iranian ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali wrote on his Twitter page.

He noted that in this regard, the Rasht-Astara railway line is planned to be launched in the near future.

The ambassador added that Iran and Russia intend to eliminate existing problems in cargo transportation in order to develop trade relations between the two countries. He said that positive results are being achieved in this direction.

The North-South International Transport Corridor Agreement between Russia, Iran, and India was signed on September 12, 2000, in St. Petersburg and entered into force on May 21, 2002. Azerbaijan joined the North-South International Transport Corridor in 2005.

13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Türkiye, etc.

The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to northern and western Europe. The delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, and it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via the North-South Transport Corridor.

The 175-km-long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167-km-long Rasht-Astara railway line must be built in Iran.