Iran, Turkey ease truck restrictions as Tehran expands rail transit capacity
Iran and Turkey have agreed to accept trucks at border crossings around the clock, seven days a week, without time or numerical limits, as Iran seeks to expand its land transit capacity amid a US naval blockade affecting maritime trade from its southern coast.
The agreement was reached at a meeting between customs officials at Iran’s Razi crossing and Turkey’s Kapikoy crossing to facilitate the uninterrupted and efficient movement of export and transit shipments, Iran’s customs administration said, according to Mehr news agency.
Under the agreement, trucks will be accepted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without restrictions on operating days or hours. There will also be no limit on the number of export trucks accepted at the border crossings.
The two sides also agreed not to impose restrictions on the types of goods transported, except for prohibited items, while giving priority to essential food products and factory raw materials, the report said.
Separately, Jabar Ali Zakari, head of Iran’s railway company, said on Thursday that the process of obtaining permits had reached its final stages and negotiations were advancing to attract Turkish investment in the Khavaran-Tabriz-Marand-Cheshmeh Soraya railway project.
The project would increase East Azarbaijan province’s share of Iran’s rail network and strengthen the country’s transit capacity along the east-west corridor, Zakari said.
He added that work had begun at the Razi border railway station to expand track and platform capacity, allowing more freight trains to arrive from Turkey and trains to depart from Tabriz for the neighboring country.
The project will add about two kilometers to the station’s track capacity and is expected to become operational within 20 days to one month, subject to completion of the remaining work, he said.