TEHRAN- During a meeting between Iranian Transport Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash and his Iraqi counterpart Razak Muhibis Al-Saadawi in Tehran, the two sides made an agreement on the completion of Shalamcheh-Basra railway.

During the meeting between Bazrpash and the Iraqi visiting delegation, decision was made regarding the Shalamcheh-Basra railway with a length of 32 kilometers and the construction of a movable bridge on it.

According to the decisions made in this bilateral meeting, it was decided that the Republic of Iraq will hand over the land to the Iranian side as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of the holy month of Ramadan (next two weeks).

Also, the construction of infrastructure, pavement and buildings required for the route will be carried out by the Iraqi Republic Railways Company.

The connection of the railway from Iran’s southwestern Shalamcheh town to Basra city in Iraq has been among the issues pursued by the governments of the two countries for many years.

The railway project has been faced several problems for many years.

For the first time in the Iranian calendar year 1390 (March 2011-March 2012), Iran and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the construction of the Shalamcheh-Basra railway, which was not implemented.

In 1393, another MOU was signed between Tehran and Baghdad for the construction of this railway, according to which, Iran undertook to design and build a bridge over Arvand River, and the Iraqi side undertook to build a 32-kilometer railway from the Shalamcheh border to the Basra railway station on Iraqi soil.

However, due to some reasons, economic problems and a shortage of funds in Iraq, as well as legal problems in that country for granting land to Iran to construct the railway, the project was halted for ten years.

But now the current governments of the two countries seem more serious to construct this railroad, which will be a strategic event in the West Asia region.

MA

Photo: Iranian Transport Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash (L) and his Iraqi counterpart Razak Muhibis Al-Saadawi