TEHRAN – Iran plans to connect its southwestern port of Emam Khomeini to Syria’s Latakia Port via a railway which passes through Iraq, IRIB reported, quoting head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR).

Mentioning a trilateral agreement signed with Iraq and Syria in July, Saied Rasouli said according to the agreement, Iran is going to construct Shalamcheh-Basra railway between Iran and Iraq through which Iran’s southwestern Emam Khomeini Port will later be connected to Latakia Port in Syria.

This would be a great step for boosting transit to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries through Iran, Rasouli said.

Iran, Iraq, and Syria held a tripartite meeting in Tehran on July 1, for discussing expansion of transportation cooperation among the three countries.

As reported, development of rail transport, increasing transit, development of exports and imports, and implementation of the Shalamcheh-Basra railway were among the topics discussed in the meeting.

In the meeting, Rasouli expressed Iran’s readiness for starting the construction operations of Shalamcheh-Basra railway, urging the Iraqi side to determine and introduce a representative company.

According to the official, establishing a railway link and creating transit corridors between the three countries were called for by officials of all three sides.

In order to complete the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad route, the 17-kilometer Khorramshahr-Shalamcheh railway project was completed in 2011 to connect the Iranian railways to Iraq, however, the Shalamcheh-Basra part is still unfinished and Iran is waiting for the Iraqi side to take necessary measures in this regard.

As reported, during the meeting, Iran and Iraq agreed on commencing the construction operations of the Shalamcheh-Basra railway project within three months.

Iran has close political and economic ties with both Iraq and Syria and the economic relations among the three nations have significantly developed in the past few years.

EF/MA