The Iranian government has allocated land to Russia for the construction of the Rasht–Astara railway, which is part of the 'North-South' transport corridor.
Modern.az reports that Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Farzaneh Sadegh, made a statement to RIA Novosti agency regarding this.
According to the information, the total area of the land allocated to Russia is approximately 34 square kilometers. The land acquisition process is planned to be completed by the third decade of March 2026.
The 'North-South' International Transport Corridor (ITC) is a multimodal route with a length of 7.2 thousand kilometers. It extends from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai in India, connecting the Baltic region with India via Russia and Iran. The corridor's annual cargo capacity is 20–30 million tons.
This route is considered an alternative to the traditional Suez Canal route, which connects Europe, the Persian Gulf countries, and the Indian Ocean. The corridor covers three directions:
Trans-Caspian route – utilizing railways and ports across the Caspian Sea;
Western route – connecting Russia and Iran via Azerbaijani territory;
Eastern route – covering Asia via land routes.
