TEHRAN - Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin, aide to the president of the Russian Federation, visited Iran on top of a high-ranking delegation to meet with Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi and discuss the expansion of transport ties.

As reported by the portal of the Iranian Transport Ministry, during the meeting with Qasemi on Thursday, Levitin said he has been tasked by his country’s president to take the necessary measures for the implementation of Iran’s Rasht-Astara railway and the signaling of the country’s Incheh Borun-Garmsar railway line.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Qasemi said: “The Russian side presented the financial plan for the completion of the Rasht-Astara railway project and it was decided that we would give them our response after reviewing the proposed plan; overall the negotiations were very positive.”

“Currently, one Russian train enters Iran’s Shahid Rajaei port every other day, however, there is the capacity for five Russian trains to enter Iran from Sarakhs border every day, and detailed negotiations have been conducted in this regard,” the official added.

The minister emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not any limitations for cooperation with Russia, adding: “Iran is ready to raise the level of its transportation relations with Russia to the highest level.”

Levetin for his part noted that Russia is determined to increase the transportation cooperation between the two countries.

“Based on the order of President Putin, we traveled to Iran for the implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway line and the signaling of the Incheh Borun-Garmsar line and to increase the transport cooperation capacities of the two countries,” he stressed.

Emphasizing the implementation of the Baku declaration and the documents signed during the conference of Central Asian countries’ transport ministers, the tripartite agreement between Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia, and the bilateral agreement between Iran and Russia, paying serious attention to the transit capacities of Iran in the region and turning Iran into a transit hub in the region were among the topics discussed in this bilateral meeting.

Iran exports nearly 30,000 tons of goods to Russia in 3 months

Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has said the country has exported 29.671 million tons of goods worth $15.7 million to Russia in three months using the facilities provided by the green customs channel between the two countries.

According to Alireza Moghadasi, during the three-month period since the pilot implementation of the green customs channel, the Federal Customs Service of Russia has facilitated the clearance of 1,953 Iranian export applications.

The memorandum of understanding for launching the mentioned channel was inked in early June by Moghadasi and Head of Russia’s Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin.

Following the agreement between Tehran and Moscow, the Federal Customs Service of Russia started providing special facilities to Iranian exporters to accelerate clearing their goods at the customs of the country.

High-ranking Russian trade delegation to visit Iran soon

Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali also announced on Thursday that a large Russian business delegation consisting of the representatives of various manufacturing and commercial companies, as well as chambers of commerce and industry of the Russian Federation, is going to visit Iran in the near future.

According to Jalali, the delegation, comprised of over 100 managers, officials, and businessmen will be headed by Chairman of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katerin.

According to the plans, the Russian business delegation will meet with Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), and a number of government officials in the related economic and commercial fields, Jalali said.

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Photo: Iranian Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi (1st L) and Aide to president of Russian Federation Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin (2nd L) talk to press after meeting in Tehran on Thursday.