Railroad Linking Central Asia to Persian Gulf Inaugurated
INCHE BOROUN (Tasnim) – A strategic railroad, passing through Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, came into service on Wednesday in a ceremony held at a Turkmen town on the Iran-Turkmenistan border.
The ceremony to inaugurate Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad was attended by presidents of the three countries, Hassan Rouhani, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Nursultan Nazarbayev, respectively.
The 920-km route, known as the railroad North-South Corridor, begins from the city of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan and ends in the Iranian city of Gorgan in Golestan province.
Some 85 kilometers lie on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s soil, 700 km in Turkmenistan and 120 km in Kazakhstan.
The railroad links the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf waters, facilitates cargo shipment in the region and shortens the North-South corridor some 600 kilometers.
Experts believe the transportation route indicates that anti-Iran sanctions have had no bearing on the regional nations’ enthusiasm for taking the opportunity to cooperate with Tehran.