Iran Considering Rail Transport for Boosting Cargo Exchange with Syria

Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has hosted a meeting for discussing rail freight transportation between Iran and Syria, Farzad Piltan, director-general of TPO’s Office of Arabian and African Countries, said. As reported by the TPO portal, the meeting was attended by the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI), the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, and the Iran-Iraq-Syria Relations Development Headquarters.

According to Piltan, in the meeting in addition to discussing the problems of the current route of transportation between the two countries through the sea, such as being time-consuming and costly, the use of combined-transit (rail-land) method through existing domestic rail lines and also through Iraq to Syria were also examined. “It was decided that the necessary investigations and follow-ups should be done by the relevant agencies,” the official said.

In case of implementing the mentioned idea, it would be possible for Iran to send various commodities like consumer goods, construction materials, and minerals through railway from Tehran to Shalamcheh and then to Basra and finally to Qaem (Abu Kamal) on the border with Syria.

Iran and Syria have been taking major steps for the expansion of their mutual trade ties. The two sides have exchanged numerous trade delegations and Iranian private companies are investing in various fields of the Syrian economy like providing construction materials especially cement and working on several reconstruction projects.

Head of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce Keyvan Kashefi believes that the value of Iran's trade with Syria will reach US$1 billion by the next Iranian calendar year 1400 (starts on March 21, 2021). “Considering the plans we have on the agenda for expanding trade with Syria, the value of Iran's trade with the country is expected to reach US$1 billion by the next year,” Kashefi said in early May. - Tehran Times