TEHERAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has hailed a joint railway project linking eastern Iran to western Afghanistan as a boost to regional trade and popular exchanges.

The railway project, officially called Khaf-Herat railway, is expected to be inaugurated on Thursday.

“The project will be inaugurated with the presence of the presidents of Iran and Afghanistan, thus extending the Iranian railways deep into Afghanistan,” Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s transport minister, told Tasnim news agency on Tuesday.

Zarif said this project will help turn Iran’s borders into bridges.

“The Khaf-Herat railway’s significance is not only for Iran & Afghanistan, but for the greater region. As a gateway that'll boost trade and people-to-people exchanges, it will also contribute to regional stability & development. Turning our frontiers into bridges is a priority,” the chief diplomat tweeted on Wednesday.

SM/PA