Iran Press/ Iran news: Iran's deputy transport minister, Kamal Hadianfar, met with his Russian counterpart in Tehran today to confer on mutual transport agendas, development of transit along the INSTC, and acceleration of the Rasht-Astara Railway project.
In the meeting, to facilitate transit between Iran and Russia, Hadianfar proposed removing the transit permit system to speed up transit between the two countries.
He further said Iran has attempted to solve the problems of Russian drivers at the Astara Border to a large extent, and some problems are also being solved through negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Currently, the process of Russian trucks passing through the Astara Border is favorable, but we hope that by removing some restrictions, the number of trucks crossing the border of Azerbaijan will double, Hadianfar said.
Hadianfar reminded that Iran is ready to host the 8th Coordination Council of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and this meeting should be held as soon as possible so that the activation of the INSTC will speed up.
The Russian Deputy Minister of Transport stated that Iran and Russia's cooperation is important not only for the region but also for the transportation policies of the world.
The Russian Deputy Minister of Transport said, that in 2023, we reached 600,000 tons of cargo through Iran and he considered the fourfold increase in the road transport of Russian cargo through Iran's territory very important and said: "It is aimed to increase the cargo transportation along the INSTC through Iran's territory to 4 million tons per year in 2024".
Additionally, he explained plans to increase cargo transit along the INSTC in its eastern side and through the territory of Kazakhstan in 2024 until the operation of the Rasht-Astara Railway project, adding that the western side of the corridor can transit 10 million tons of freight.
In July 2023, Iran and Russia signed the executory contract for the construction of the Rasht-Astara Railway Project on the sidelines of the third trilateral meeting of Iran, Russia, and India on INSTC held on July 4 in Tehran. During the meeting, Igor Levitin said the freight transit will reach 30 million tons per year. 204
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