Deputy Minister: Iran Pursues 20-mln-ton Transit Goal with Central Asia
Iran wants to reach common policies with Central Asian countries to achieve an annual 20-million-ton transit goal, Safari said, addressing a meeting on transit cooperation between Iran and five Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan held in Tehran.
“Iran will provide transit routes to its landlocked neighbors to achieve the goal,” the deputy foreign minister said.
He added that during the two-day meeting, challenges and opportunities of expanding transit collaboration between Iran and the Central Asian nations will be explored.
“This gathering will lead to the adoption of a more coordinated policy among the present countries, and hopefully result in providing solutions for the obstacles regarding transit cooperation,” Safari said.
He underlined the necessity for the development of international transit corridors passing through Iran, and said, “We should provide a management system for such corridors for improving rail, sea, and air routes and we will soon hold an international conference in this regard.”
In relevant remarks in March, Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi said that the country attaches great importance to the further development of relations and cooperation with the Central Asian states.
President Rayeesi made the remarks in a phone conversation with his outgoing Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
He also highlighted the importance of North-South Corridor, expressing the hope that during the tenure of Turkmenistan’s new president the two countries would witness evermore usage of their economic capacities.
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