Putin participated in the ceremony of signing the agreement on the railway in Iran via video link

Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, took part in the ceremony of signing an agreement on the construction of a railway between the Iranian cities of Rasht and Astara via video link, reports press office Kremlin.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the Russian side by Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev, and on the Iranian side by Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash.

During his speech at the agreement signing ceremony, Vladimir Putin thanked his Iranian counterpart and Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his “constant attention to cooperation” with Russia.

The Russian president recalled that the Rasht-Astara railway is part of the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC), a route from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai in India with a length of 7.2 thousand km. The length of the Iranian railway, in turn, will be 162 km.

Vladimir Putin stressed that negotiations on the creation of the North-South corridor are being held with Azerbaijan. The President expressed hope for the soon completion of the preparation of a trilateral agreement between Baku, Tehran and Moscow on cooperation in the development of the ITC.

The Rasht-Astara railway is planned to be put into operation in 2025. Both Moscow and Tehran have high hopes for the ITC, in connection with which Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that Tehran and Baku (also a member of the ITC) will overcome the friction between them.

Erdni Kagaltynov