TEHRAN- Highlighting the good performance of the country’s ports in the current year, Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said that 122 million tons of commodities have been loaded and unloaded at the ports during the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021).

Making the remarks when visiting a port in the southwest of the country, Jahangiri said that during the last three years and in the most severe and unprecedented sanctions against the country, the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has been able to perform very well in unloading and loading goods, and this is commendable.

PMO Head Mohammad Rastad has recently said that the country’s trade gateways were not closed even a moment despite the sanctions and pandemic, adding that loading and unloading of goods, especially the essential goods, are continuously conducted at the ports.

As announced by the PMO head, loading and unloading of commodities are being conducted continuously at the ports of Iran while the health requirements are completely met.

Rastad has reiterated that all port operations are done observing healthcare protocols and the principles set by the Coronavirus Containment Headquarters.

In a statement in mid-October last year, PMO declared that loading and unloading of commodities are underway continuously at the country’s ports.

While the enemy is trying to halt Iran’s exports and imports through imposing sanctions, operation at Iranian ports are underway without interruption as the result of the all-out efforts of the organization’s personnel, the statement reads.

Meanwhile, as the PMO head has announced, 11 new development projects with 59 trillion rials (over $1.4 billion) of investment are currently underway at the Iranian ports.

Not only the sanctions could not stop development activities at the ports of Iran, some new development projects have been also defined, Rastad has underscored.

The third phase of the development plan of Shahid Rajaee Port is one of the major projects which is going to go operational by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

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 some significant role in this battle, and the ongoing operation at the ports indicates that they are playing their part perfectly.

As reported, loading and unloading of commodities at the ports of Iran have risen six percent during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19, 2020).

MA/MA