Iran Calls for Extending Herat Railway to Uzbekistan Border

Iran Calls for Extending Herat Railway to Uzbekistan Border

15 hours ago

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Iran’s transport minister has called for extending the railway from Herat to Uzbekistan’s Termez border, saying the route could boost trade and give regional countries greater access to open seas.

Farzaneh Sadegh told a specialist meeting on the Trans-Afghan Corridor in Astana that Iran was considering expanding rail links with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Sadegh said the route should ultimately connect to the railway networks of Central Asia and China.

The Iranian transport minister also proposed that countries along the Iran-Afghanistan-Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan-China corridor hold a meeting as soon as possible within the framework of the Economic Cooperation Organisation to develop the mechanisms needed to implement the project.

Referring to the Chabahar transit agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and India, Sadegh said the port had the capacity to expand the movement of goods from Afghanistan and Central Asia to international markets.

She also backed a trilateral Iran-Afghanistan-Tajikistan corridor, saying its implementation could facilitate access for countries along the route to markets in China and East Asia, as well as to open seas through Chabahar port.

Sadegh said connecting Afghanistan to Turkiye and Europe through Sarakhs and Razi corridors, as well as providing access to the Caucasus and the Black Sea through Sarakhs and Jolfa, were among other projects that could be pursued as part of the regional transport network.

Transport ministers from Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, along with the Taliban transport minister, attended the Trans-Afghan Corridor meeting in Astana.

The Trans-Afghan railway project is intended to connect Central Asian countries with South Asia.