Minster offers Islamic transport control hub, financial fund at OIC meeting
Trilateral talks highlight East-West corridor, transit cooperation
Iran's Roads and Urban Development Minister Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd proposed establishing an “Islamic Joint Transport Operations Room” and an “Islamic Transport Financial Fund” at the Second Conference of Transport Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Thursday.
Sadegh Malvajerd also suggested forming three specialized working groups on logistics, legal and institutional coordination, and transport digitalization.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, taking advantage of the present conference, proposes the creation of three specialized working groups under the topics of logistics, legal and institutional coordination, and transport digitalization for experience exchanges within the capacity of six main institutions affiliated with the OIC, so that a sustainable mechanism is created for following up on this conference's decisions and our interactions are not limited to periodic meetings, but transform into a continuous and result-oriented process,” the minister said, IRNA reported.
“To implement joint action on these concerns, I propose two operational measures,” she added. “The first is the establishment of an ‘Islamic Joint Transport Operations Room’ to coordinate infrastructure projects, create a unified cargo-tracking system and reduce overlapping permits. The second is the creation of an ‘Islamic Transport Financial Fund’ to facilitate joint investment and financing for strategic projects through innovative approaches, including use of the Islamic Development Bank’s capacity and issuance of Islamic financial instruments such as infrastructure sukuk, paving the way for implementation of strategic transit corridors.”
Sadegh Malvajerd highlighted Iran’s strategic position in regional transit, saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, with its Eurasian crossroads position and by implementing major projects such as connecting Chabahar port to the Central Asian rail network and developing the East-West transit corridor from the Bazargan border to Shalamcheh, extends a hand of cooperation toward all Islamic countries.”
Rail access to Chabahar Port, described as the shortest route for regional countries to international waters, is being completed rapidly and is scheduled to finish in the coming months, increasing capacity from 8.5 million tons to more than 30 million tons.
She also reported progress on the Marand-Cheshmeh Soraya railway, “Construction of the strategic Marand-Cheshmeh Soraya railway, which connects Iran's rail network to Turkey's rail network, is also being seriously pursued so that the southern branch of the East-West corridor becomes a fully rail-based transit route and fast and low-cost transfer of all types of cargo among the Islamic nation is guaranteed with minimum stops and costs.”
During a trilateral meeting in Istanbul with Turkey’s transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu and Uzbekistan’s transport minister Ilhom Makhkamov, participants emphasized strengthening the East-West corridor and removing transit barriers, focusing on expanding transport cooperation and facilitating regional trade.
Uraloglu said, “Digitalization of border and commercial procedures, reduction of parallel permits, and creation of coordinated and fast procedures should be placed at the priority of joint programs.”
The Uzbek minister, referring to comparative statistics on the middle and southern routes of the East-West corridor, described the joint corridor of Iran, Turkey and Uzbekistan as one of the region’s most important trade routes and stressed facilitating customs and border procedures as well as strengthening private-sector participation.
Uzbek traffic up 117%
In a separate bilateral meeting with his Uzbek counterpart, Sadegh Malvajerd reported 117% growth in Uzbek fleet traffic to Iran and 18% growth in Iranian fleet traffic to Uzbekistan in 2025 following preparation of a roadmap and removal of reciprocal $400 tolls. The two sides reviewed road and rail transport issues and stressed the need for continued follow-up to expand cooperation.
Sadegh Malvajerd also held separate talks with her Turkish counterpart in Istanbul, where discussions covered increasing capacity at shared borders, a new rail link at the Cheshmeh Soraya-Aralik crossing to complete the East-West rail route, expanding roll-on/roll-off capacity on Lake Van, and relaunching Tehran-Ankara and Tehran-Istanbul train services. Turkey’s transport minister expressed readiness to participate in a ministerial meeting of Islamic transport countries to advance cooperation across rail, road and air sectors.