TEHRAN - President Ebrahim Raisi visited northern Gilan Province on top of a high-ranking delegation on Friday, as the 15th provincial visit since he took office in August, IRNA reported.

Accompanied by members of his cabinet and some of their deputies, Raisi arrived at Sardar-e-Jangal Airport in Rasht (capital city of Gilan) on Friday morning.

The aim of the president’s provincial visits is to get closely in touch with people and to resolve the problems in various provinces.

During the trip to Gilan province, Raisi visited some of the province’s ongoing infrastructure projects and also went to the province’s free zones to discuss and resolve the problems and challenges in the mentioned areas.

As reported, during his one-day trip, President Raisi visited the Rasht-Caspian-Anzali railway project along with Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi.

Rasht-Caspian-Anzali railway is a continuation of the Qazvin-Rasht-Anzali railway project, the executive operation of which was started two years ago.

The 35-kilometer-long railway is being constructed in two sections. The first part of the railway is 17 km long and currently has 91 percent physical progress and the second part is 18 km with 69 percent physical progress.

He also paid a visit to Anzali Free Zone, during which he stressed the need to speed up the connection of the Caspian port complex and especially Anzali zone to the national railway network, along with the purchase of roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships in order to expand trade with Eurasian countries.

During this trip, President Raisi visited the facilities and infrastructure in the Anzali Free Zone, especially the special RORO port under construction, the Caspian Port watchtower, and the construction of the railway line in the area.

During this visit, Raisi was accompanied by Secretary of the Supreme Council of Free Zones Saeed Mohammad, Governor-General of Gilan Province Asadollah Abbasi, Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi, Head of Anzal Free Zone Organization Ali Osat-Akbari Moghaddam.

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Photo: President Raisi (1st R) and Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi (2nd R) visit Anzali Free Zone on Friday