Iran begins regular railway cargo transportation to China via Turkmenistan, KazakhstanIran is starting regular transportation through Turkmenistan to China and has sent the first container train along this route, the Iranian information portal Press TV reported.The train departed from the depot of Iran's largest dry port, Aprin, in Eslamshahr (Tehran province) to Inche Burunon the border with Turkmenistan. It will cross Turkmenistan and then Kazakhstan to the Altynkol station, bordering China. The final point of the route is Yiwu Station (Zhejiang Province).Iran's vice president for trade and railway operations, Morteza Jafari, said at the opening ceremony of the regular service on Sunday that the initial plan is to send one train per week on both sides (a freight train from China will arrive in Iran in two days) and then increase the number of trains up to one per day.The 10,300 km long journey will take two weeks, which is approximately half the time it takes to deliver cargo by sea, Press TV notes.During Sunday's ceremony, Kazakh Ambassador to Iran Ontalap Onalbayev expressed hope that the new railway route will be connected with Turkey and the European Union in the future.As Press TV notes, this is part of the China-Central Asia-West Asia-Europe corridor development project proposed as part of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. Over the past few years, Iran has expanded its trade routes with allied countries, primarily through the international North-South transport corridor, which is designed to facilitate the movement of goods between India, Central Asian countries, Iran, Russia and Europe.Last year, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on the creation of the Rasht-Astara railway, which is expected to strengthen the North-South corridor. A few weeks later, Raisi inaugurated the second phase of the Miane-Tabriz railway megaproject, which will connect Iranian railways with Europe for the first time.Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, confirmed that Iran will continue to prioritize bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Russia and China, especially within frameworks such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union.Recently, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran signed a roadmap for the synchronous development of the potential of the eastern route of the international North-South transport corridor for 2024-2025.According to the Turkmen news agency Orient, in November 2023 Ashgabat invited Tehran to intensify transportation along the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transit corridor.In October 2023, representatives of the transport and railway departments of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey held negotiations, within the framework of which a draft agreement on the formation of another transport and transit corridor from China to the EU through Iran was discussed. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX