During a meeting with Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication Artur Arakelyan, Iranian Deputy Minister for Road Construction and Urban Development Ali Nurzad announced that Iran has a special plan to establish railway communication with all its neighboring countries, reports PanARMENIAN.Net.

Nurzad mentioned that according to the country’s prospective development programs, the total length of Iran’s railway will be increased by nearly 10,000 kilometers in 10 years, contributing to the considerable growth of shipping in the region.

Noting the old and friendly relations between the two countries, Ali Nurzad mentioned that Iran and Armenia collaborate in different sectors, have many things in common and that there are grounds for hope that the collaboration will be successful in the railway transport sector as well, reports Iran.ru. According to Ali Nurzad, currently, Iran’s railway is nearly 10,000 kilometers in length, and the Iranian government is especially focused on the development of rail transport. Rail transport will be quadrupled for shipping in general, and for that the Iranian government will need to make 10 billion Euros in investments. As the Iranian deputy minister mentioned, the agreement with Armenia in the rail transport sector will contribute to further strengthening of relations between the two countries and further enlargement of transit transfers.

In his turn, Artur Arakelyan declared that the goal of the Armenian delegation’s visit to Iran is to prepare for the establishment of railway communication between the two countries and voiced hope that Iran would build a railway through its territory that would stretch to the border with Armenia and create conditions for the unification of the railway networks of both countries. According to Arakelyan, Armenia has already conducted the required studies. Armenia will still need to build a 300 km railway that will stretch to the border with Iran, as well as nearly 100 km tunnels and bridges.

It should be mentioned that the RA Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication and his accompanying leaders of the transport sector are in Iran to negotiate with the administration of Iran’s Ministry for Road Construction and Urban Development and sign an agreement on the combination of Iranian and Armenian railway networks.