Iran has transferred territory to Russia for the construction of a section of the North—South corridor

Iran has officially handed over to Russia a 34-kilometer piece of land necessary for the construction of the Rasht—Astara railway, which is part of the North—South international transport corridor.

This was reported by RIA Novosti, referring to the statement of the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic Farzane Sadek. She explained that the Russian side can already start work.

The head of the Iranian department also said that about half of the necessary land has already been purchased for the construction of the 162-kilometer section of the Rasht—Astara railway.

According to Sadek, Tehran is actively contributing to completing the purchase of all lands by the end of the Iranian calendar year, which will come in the third decade of March 2026.

The North—South MTC runs from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai in India. The main task of the route is to serve Russia's foreign trade with the countries of the Transcaucasus, the Caspian region, Iran, the states of South Asia and The Persian Gulf.

Russia and Iran signed an agreement on the completion of the Rasht-Astara section in May 2023. Its total cost is € 1.6 mld. Of these, € 1.3 billion is a loan from the Russian Federation, the rest is funds from the Iranian side.

As reported in the Russian Ministry of Transport, in May of this year, that Russia and Iran has launched survey work on the construction of the Rasht—Astara railway section in Iranian territory within the framework of the ITC.

Earlier, EADaily reported that Russia is trying to find new ways to export its raw materials and purchase goods, mainly high-tech. One of them should be the North—South transport corridor, also called the "Persian Corridor".