RAI rail freight tops 5m tons, setting record amid sanctions
Iran’s international rail freight transport crossed the 5-million-ton threshold on Tuesday, marking a new milestone in the country’s rail transport history, Shariyar Naqizadeh, director general of Foreign Trade at the Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI), told IRNA.
While total international rail freight also reached 5 million tons last year, this year’s milestone was achieved on February 24, representing 7% growth compared to the same period last year, Naqizadeh added.
He emphasized the significance of this achievement, noting it was attained under the most severe sanctions and political pressures, which have undoubtedly affected international rail transport.
“This year, and through efforts made, by signing bilateral and multilateral memorandums of understanding with neighboring countries as well as with countries along these corridor routes, and through extensive rail diplomacy, we managed to extract this performance from international agreements,” he said. Naqizadeh referred to several key agreements underpinning this growth, including a six-party memorandum along the China-Europe rail route with countries along the corridor; a three-party agreement on the North-South Corridor with Russia and Turkmenistan (on the eastern branch) and with Azerbaijan (on the western branch); and a three-party memorandum among Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.