Iran, Kazakhstan Inaugurate Rail Transit Route
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A rail transit link between Iran and Kazakhstan was brought into operation on Sunday, allowing for cargo trains to freight shipments from Kazakhstan to Turkey through Iran.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi used a video conference link on Sunday to order the transit of a consignment from Kazakhstan through the Iranian railway system to Turkey.
The cargo that contains 48 containers had arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. It started its journey from Aktau on June 15 and will unload in Turkey, Press TV reported.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attended the ceremony to launch the project, which is known as Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran (KTI) transit corridor.
Authorities said transit arrangements through the 6,300-kilometer corridor will become permanent after a series of pilot operations.
Raisi and Tokayev also oversaw the signing of a document by railway chiefs of Iran and Kazakhstan that will commit them to cooperating on the transit of up to 5 million metric tons of cargo through the KTI per year.
Raisi called the KTI a major trade route and said that the launch of the corridor will expedite the East-West transit of cargo between Asia and Europe.
Tokayev also noted that the launch of the KTI corridor has been a result of close cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in recent months.
He expressed hope the two countries would stick to their commitments about the project and allow it to evolve in the future.
