TEHRAN – Some 724 kilometers (km) of new main roads and highways have been added to the country’s roads network since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2019), IRNA reported, quoting the Iranian transport and urban development minister as saying on Thursday.

Speaking in the inauguration ceremony of a highway project in the south-central Fars Province, Mohammad Eslami said the number of constructed roads will be definitely increased in the remaining months to end of the current Iranian calendar year.

"Despite all the problems that the sanctions have created for the country and despite all the credit constraints and bottlenecks that the government is facing, there are active road construction projects in all parts of the country," he said.

Earlier this month, Deputy Transport Minister Kheirollah Khademi announced that about 400 kilometers of highways were going to be inaugurated throughout Iran during the Ten-Day Dawn (February 1-11, which marks the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution).

“Every year, 1000-1200 kilometers of the country’s roads are turned into highways, which significantly increases the safety of the transportation lines,” Khademi said.
According to the official, currently, more than 7,700 km of highways are under construction across the country.

“This year, 1.2 trillion rials (about $285.7 million) have been only allocated for the construction of the country’s east-to-southwest corridor,” he said.

In late January, the transport ministry announced that six prioritized freeways projects with a total length of 550 kilometers (KM) were planned to be inaugurated in the country by the Iranian Calendar year of 1400 (starts in March 2021).

EF/MA