WANA (Sep 16) – Iran’s Minister of Economy, Abdolnaser Hemmati, in a meeting today (Monday) with Igor Levitin, Assistant to the President of Russia, emphasized the need to expedite the implementation of the North-South Corridor project as a strategic transit route. This route will significantly strengthen economic cooperation between Iran, Russia, India, and the Persian Gulf countries.

 

During the meeting, Hemmati highlighted the importance of the corridor and called for Russia’s serious support for this major project. He stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to offer special incentives to facilitate investment by other countries in this route.

 

He also hoped that Russian investments in Iran, particularly in the oil sector and in logistical and transit infrastructure projects, would increase, contributing to the development of bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

 

In this meeting, Iran’s Minister of Economy and Finance emphasized the need to swiftly implement the North-South Corridor project as a transit route to strengthen cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, India, and the Persian Gulf countries.

 

Senior Assistant to the Russian president congratulated Abdolnaser Hemmati on his appointment and announced that he had allocated a special budget for the Rasht-Astara railway project. He added that this project has the capacity to transport over 15 million tons of cargo, with a potential expansion to 30 to 50 million tons.

 

Levitin also revealed that the Russian President has issued special orders to accelerate the implementation of the North-South Corridor project, which has now commenced with the support of Russia’s VTB Bank.

 

He noted that the technical phase of the project has been completed and that it is now time to coordinate with Iran’s Ministry of Economy to move into the execution phase. Levitin expressed hope that bilateral cooperation would continue to advance this key project more rapidly.