TEHRAN - Transit of goods via the Iranian rail network increased by 47 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21) compared to the same period in the previous year, Transport Ministry data shows.

Based on the data released by the Transport and Urban Development Ministry, some 773,000 tons of goods have been transited through the country’s railways in the first five months of the current Iranian year while the figure stood at 526,000 tons in the previous year’s same period.

The largest amount of transit goods entered Iran from the borders of Sarkhs and Astara, so that the border of Sarkhs with 536,000 tons and the border of Astara with 129,000 tons had the largest volume of rail freight traffic in the mentioned five months.

Transit of commodities through Iran reached 16.34 million tons during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), which is a new record high, according to an official with the country’s Transport and Urban Development Ministry.

As stated by Deputy Transport Minister Kamal Hadianfar, of the mentioned figure 14.75 million tons was the share of road transit and the rest was for rail transit.

As stated by former Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, the “Iran Way” initiative made by the previous Iranian government, lets the neighboring countries use Iran as a route or a solution that facilitates their access to international waters.

Iran Way initiative is the gateway to Iran's land of transit opportunities, the official underlined.

Iran is one of the countries with a special status in trade and transit relations due to its strategic location and special geography, as the country is the passage of several important international corridors.

Considering its geographical location, Iran can play a significant role in the transit of goods in the region and benefit a lot from its status in this due.

Paying attention to upstream documents, especially the country's development plans, and the government's decision to develop transit, paying special attention to infrastructure development, reducing transit time, making it cheaper to cross Iran and making more advantages over competitors, due to the short path for customers, can lead to facilitating the development of transit so that the country can reach the desired growth in this due.

EF/MA