Iran, Georgia Mull Corridor Linking Persian Gulf to Black Sea

Linking the Persian Gulf in the south to the Caspian Sea in the north is the key plank of connectivity programs being sought by Iran. Iran and Georgia have discussed problems of Iranian transit trucks and agreed to accelerate the finalization of a corridor linking the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, a senior official says. According to General Manager of Iran's Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization Javad Hedayati Tuesday, development of regional transit cooperation and establishment of new corridors is a priority of the new government. "The creation of new corridors, in addition to facilitating trade, will lead to revenue generation for the country and reduce transportation costs," IRNA quoted him as telling a meeting of a joint transport commission in Tbilisi.

Linking the Persian Gulf in the south to the Caspian Sea in the north is the key plank of connectivity programs being sought by Iran and "the creation of a corridor from the Persian Gulf to Georgia and the Black Sea is one of these plans", Hedayati said. According to the official, similar negotiations are being held with Azerbaijan which connects Iran to Georgia and up to the Black Sea through Turkey. "The Iranian side stressed the importance of strengthening regional transit based on multilateral advantages, and reviving the transit networks of the two sides with the aim of shortening transit routes and reducing costs," Hedayati said. It was decided to take immediate steps to solve the existing problems and simplify the passage of trucks, he added.

The negotiations come in the wake of a brief dispute over Azerbaijan's decision to impose customs duties on Iranian truck drivers transiting to Armenia through its newly-liberated territories and Iranian supplies of fuel and other goods to Karabakh, a breakaway republic controlled by Armenians, but internationally recognized as the territory of Azerbaijan. Oil by-products like petrol, diesel and asphalt for road construction are imported to Karabakh through private companies in Armenia that ship their products with privately operated trucks.

Azerbaijan claims some of the trucks illegally" entering Karabakh are Iranian. Last month, the country released two Iranian truck drivers which it had detained for allegedly entering Karabakh. Iran’s Roads and Transportation Organization then issued a ban on the country’s trucks traveling to the isolated enclave. Since the row, a debate has raged in Iran over the need to shift the country's transit routes to Armenia away from the Azerbaijani territory, but Hedayati dismissed the idea as a far-fetched alternative in a recent interview. "The number of our transit trucks passing through the Armenian territory a year is a single digit. It is a mountainous route and very difficult to cross, especially in winter, when trucks travel a 400 km route sometimes in three days. It has very sharp turns and the driving conditions are very difficult. Many of our trucks got into trouble there before and fell into the ravine in the winter. So the route is not very good compared to the other alternatives we have to access Europe," he told Tasnim news agency. "Our main route to Europe is through Turkey and the second route is through Azerbaijan," Hedayati said, adding the Armenia route is still important to Iran as an alternative in case a problem arises for the passage of Iranian trucks. - Press TV