Putin took part in the ceremony of signing an agreement on a railway section in Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, took part in the signing ceremony of an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section. About it informs Kremlin press office.

On May 17, the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Savelyev and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mehrdad Bazrpash signed an agreement on this. Putin took part in the ceremony via video link. The event was also joined by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is on a working visit to Iran.

“A railway line with a length of 162 kilometers will be laid between the Iranian cities of Rasht and Astara. It would seem that this is a small section, but its commissioning will allow establishing a direct and uninterrupted, or, in other words, experts say, seamless railway communication along the entire length of the North-South route,” Putin said.

According to the Russian president, this project testifies to the “high level, fruitful, mutually beneficial nature” of relations between Russia and Iran. Putin also thanked Raisi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Russian and Iranian colleagues for their cooperation. The President of the Russian Federation expressed confidence that the construction of “such a strategically important section” would proceed “smoothly and efficiently.”

The Rasht-Astara railway section will become part of the North-South highway. According to Putin, the project will “significantly diversify global transport flows.” In particular, the delivery of goods from St. Petersburg to Mumbai will take about 10 days instead of 30-45 days by the traditional route. The Russian leader added that in connection with this, an increase in cargo traffic is expected and “more convenient and geographically diverse access to foreign markets” for Russian and Iranian goods.

According to Novak, the implementation of the project will increase the volume of cargo turnover between Russia and Iran up to 15 million tons by 2030. This applies only to transit cargo, he specified. Novak expectsthat in the future the railway section could become an alternative to the Suez Canal.

In March, the first deputy head Russian Railways Sergey Pavlov informedthat in 2023 two intergovernmental agreements on the construction of the Rasht-Astara section will be signed: bilateral (between Russia and Iran) and trilateral – between Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. According to him, the estimated cost of the project is $1.6 billion. Construction of the site will take four years. At the same time, Pavlov admitted that the terms could be reduced.