TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Ali-Akbar Safaei has said 130,000 vessels commute to Iranian ports annually despite the limitations created by the U.S. sanctions.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Shahid Rajaei port in southern Iran, Safaei noted that several foreign investors are currently participating in the country’s port projects, the PMO portal reported.

He stated that all the pressures crated by the sanctions were intended for Iranian ships not to have international traffic, adding: “however, our shipping lines that connect Shahid Rajaei port to different parts of the world has provided conditions for economic operators and merchants to have commercial and economic exchange with different countries of the world.”

While Iran is combating the U.S. unilateral sanctions on its economy, the country’s ports as the major gates of exports and imports play a significant role in this battle. This role makes all-out support to ports and more development of them serious and vital.

Such necessity has led the government to define projects for more development of the ports and also take some measures to encourage investment making in ports, in addition, to facilitate loading and unloading of goods, especially basic commodities, there.

It is worth mentioning that Ports and Maritime Organization has defined a high number of projects to develop and improve the country’s ports, as the country aims to double the capacity of its ports in a course of five years.

Enjoying the most modern container terminals and port equipment, Shahid Rajaei accounts for 85 percent of the total loading and unloading at the Iranian ports.

Given its significant role in the country’s import and export of products as well as transit and transshipment via Iran, the development of Shahid Rajaei Port has been among the most important development projects in the country.

EF/MA