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Iran initiates transit cooperation with Central Asian countries

Monday, 10 October 2022 1:49 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 10 October 2022 1:49 AM ]

Yusef Jalali

Press TV, Tehran

A new transit map is being charted here. Transport ministers from Iran and five Central Asian Countries, including Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are in Tehran attending the first transit cooperation summit.

To facilitate border traffic, the participating countries agreed to digitize transit processes, facilitate embassy affairs and visa issuance especially for transit drivers and improve tariffs and transit charges.

More countries, including Russia and Azerbaijan are also set to join the initiative. Iran is situated on a geostrategically important region, connecting the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf in its south to the Caspian Sea in its north.

The country is already party to the International North–South Transport Corridor, which is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

This is an all-win step for all sides of the bargain here. The landlocked Central Asian states will not have to worry about accessing the global transit network, and by doing this, Iran will turn into a transit hub, pushing its annual transport volume to over 20 million tons.

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