Iran, Tajikistan Ink Agreement on Road, Transportation Cooperation
The MoU was signed by Head of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RMTO) Dariush Amani and Deputy Transport Minister of Tajikistan Shayesta Moradzadeh in Tehran in late April, according to a report by the Iranian Roads and Urban Development Ministry's webiste.
Speaking during the signing ceremony of the agreement, Amani, who is also the deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister, pointed out that the President Ebrahim Raeisi administration has focused on expanding relations with the neighboring countries as a priority in its foreign policy.
He pointed to the strategic geographical location of Iran as a bridge connecting China and Central Asia with Western Asia and Europe, stressing that Iran's Southern ports have the potnetial to link Tajikistan’s territory to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf as a suitable, safe and short route.
The Tajikistan’s deputy transport minister, for her part, thanked the Iranian side for hospitality and described the meeting as an exceptional opportunity to tap into the substantial potential shared between the two closely intertwined nations. She highlighted Tajikistan's central location in Central Asia, noting its historical role along the Silk Road as indicative of its untapped transportation capabilities in various transport fields.
In continuation of the meeting, the two deputy minister discussed Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran (KTAI) corridor, the Southern route of the East-West Corridor and the eastern bramch of International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), transit and trade agreements, infrastructure enhancement initiatives, road service action plans, reciprocal traffic permit exchanges, official border payment fee notifications, measures to prevent informal payments, updates to traffic and residency regulations, visa facilitation, resolution of traffic issues within each country's borders, and engagement with regional bodies like the Eurasian Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
At the end of the meeting, the head of the Tajik delegation extended an invitation to Iranian RMTO's chairman to participate in the upcoming international conference "Road to Tien Shan" scheduled for May.
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