TEHRAN – Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, met Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin to discuss key transport projects, including the long-delayed Rasht–Astara railway, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow said.

Senior Russian transport officials attended the talks, where both sides stressed the need to accelerate work on the Rasht–Astara section, seen as the missing link in the western branch of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Meetings and coordination at ministerial and expert levels were also reviewed.

According to Russia’s Transport Ministry, the Rasht–Astara line will connect the rail networks of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, enabling the transport of at least 15 million tons of cargo annually. Officials also explored ways to expand freight volumes along the INSTC by addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, introducing competitive pricing and developing multimodal services on the corridor’s western route.

Nikitin said road freight between Iran and Russia grew 12.8 percent in 2024, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Talks also covered maritime cooperation, with both countries expressing interest in strengthening ties between logistics and port operators, expanding multimodal shipping using unified rail and sea tariffs, and exploring the launch of a Caspian Sea cruise line.

On aviation, the ministry noted a positive trend, pointing to Aeroflot’s resumption of Moscow–Tehran flights earlier this month and Mahan Air’s services on the Tehran–Moscow and Tehran–Grozny routes.

EF/