Heads of foreign ministries, transport and energy ministries, and customs services of Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan will meet shortly for discussing the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad section of the North-South international transport corridor, AzVision.az reports citing Iran's Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali.
"We plan to hold a three-party meeting in the near future with the participation of foreign ministers, transport ministers, energy ministers, and heads of customs services of Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan," he said.
The plan is to sign the agreement on implementation of the project by March 2025, the diplomat added.
On May 17, 2023, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to jointly build the Rasht - Astara railroad segment, which will make it possible to connect overland sections of the North - South international transport corridor and boost the economic efficiency of the Trans-Caspian route. Russia will extend a 1.3 bln euro sovereign loan to implement the project, with its total cost estimated at 1.6 bln euro.
An intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the multimodal transport corridor North-South spanning 7,200 km was signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000. Later, the number of participants rose to 14. The project is aimed at attracting transit of cargo flows from India, Iran and the Persian Gulf countries through Russian territory to Europe.
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