TEHRAN – A Chinese company has finalized a deal in Iran to finance Gorgan-Bojnourd-Mashhad railway project in the country’s northeast region, ISNA reported on Friday quoting Deputy Transport Minister Kheirollah Khademi as saying.

According to the official, the negotiations between the two sides which started in late last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), led to the final agreement in the past few days.

The 550-kilometer project needs about 100 trillion rials (near 18 billion yuan or $2.38 billion) to be completed and the Chinese side is going to finance the project.

Khademi believes that the project will be operational in five years provided that the funds are injected on time and everything goes on schedule.

In July 2017, in another railway agreement, China’s Exim Bank (the Export-Import Bank of China) penned a contract with Iran’s Bank of Industry and Mine to finance $1.5 billion for signaling of Tehran-Mashhad railroad.

EF/MA