TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran has exported cargoes worth $1.5 billion to Russia via Azerbaijan’s territory in 2020, said the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Mehdi Mirashrafi.
According to the statement, in the same period last year, the value of exports amounted to $4.3 million, azernews.az reported.
The reason for this increase is the construction and commissioning of the railway between Iran and Azerbaijan. Thus, after the launch of the Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) line, the Iranian provinces of Gilan, Golestan, Mazandaran, Ardebil, and East Azarbaijan were able to export more products to Russia.
Presently, cargoes from the northern provinces of Iran are delivered by truck to Astara, where they are loaded in the wagons and sent to Russia through Azerbaijan.
The Astara-Astara railway is an extension of the Qazvin-Rasht railway, which is a key segment of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Earlier on July 10, Iran inaugurated its Chabahar-Zahedan railway line to transport cargo to Europe through Azerbaijan via Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railway.
The construction of this railway has important advantages, as the port of Chabahar and the national railway system are located there.
The Persian Gulf countries will use the port of Badar Abbas and Southeast Asian countries will use the port of Chabahar to trade with Europe through the INSTC.
The railway connecting the Azerbaijani and Iranian cities of Astara has already been put into operation as Azerbaijan’s infrastructure is ready to receive and send large volumes of cargo.
In addition, Azerbaijan has completed the construction of the Baku-Astara highway, as well as the Alat international sea trade port, leading to cargo transshipment increase.
Presently, the Qazvin-Rasht section of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway is in operation. Work is underway on the section of the Rasht-Astara railway.
After its completion, the Chabahar-Zahedan railway, along with the Rasht-Astara railway will secure Azerbaijan’s position as an international transport hub.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
