Approval of the general outline of the East-West Rail Corridor of Iran centered on the Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif railway in Afghanistan

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Tehran: A meeting of the National Headquarters of Iran’s “Gozar” Committee was held yesterday (Saturday) with the aim of reviewing and approving policy and executive packages in the field of transit and transportation in the country. In this meeting, Mohammad Reza Aref considered the development of transport corridors as one of the strategic priorities of the 14th Iranian government and stated: “Increasing the capacity of the corridors and replacing dry and northern ports alongside the Persian Gulf ports will strengthen Iran’s role in regional transit.”

Referring to the government’s actions in this area over the past two years, the First Vice President of Iran described the development of transit corridors as a fundamental strategy for enhancing Iran’s geoeconomic position in regional transportation.

 

East-West Corridor Document; From Goals to Financial Mechanism

According to the announcement of the Iranian Presidency, the country’s East-West Corridor Document, the general outline of which was approved, pursues increasing Iran’s share of the international transit market, enhancing the country’s geoeconomic position, developing economic cooperation and regional investment, strengthening economic ties with Afghanistan and other countries along the route, and creating new mechanisms for financing strategic projects as its major goals.

The main focus of this document is the Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif strategic railway project, which will facilitate the rail connection of eastern Iran to western Afghanistan and ultimately its connection to the Iranian rail network.

The meeting also approved resolutions on facilitating customs processes and the full transport of goods, guidelines for the clearance of empty returned containers and temporary entry, measures to replace Iran's southern ports for the supply of basic goods and transit through shared borders with neighbors, and the architectural plan for a smart platform for monitoring public transport fleets to connect to the single window for integrated transit services.

 

The Shamtig border; from the neglected border to the hub of Iran's rail transit

Simultaneously with national decision-making in Iran, a serious determination has also been formed at the provincial/provincial level to actualize the capacities of the country's eastern borders.

According to IRNA, Gholamhossein Mozaffari, the governor/governor of Khorasan Razavi, on Wednesday evening, in a meeting to brainstorm issues in the field of rail exports to Afghanistan, emphasizing the need to exploit the capacities of the eastern borders, called for transforming the "Shamtigh" border with Herat into an active rail border and a regional transit hub.

Referring to the high volume of trade on this route, Mozaffari said: "There is no justification for not developing this route; because the existing capacities and the volume of goods in motion indicate the strategic importance of this region, and the extraordinary capacity of the eastern borders, which has received less attention, should be used for economic development."

The governor of Khorasan Razavi emphasized the need for scientific and specialized organization of the Shamtigh border using expert consultants, observing security considerations, and demanding cooperation from Afghan agencies in joint management of processes, and called for increasing the authority of the management of this province in border decisions to accelerate the implementation process.

He also announced Iran's ultimate goal of transforming the Shamtig railway border with Afghanistan into a route for transiting goods to the warm waters of the south through the country's railway network and emphasized the need for private sector participation in infrastructure and operation.

 

Allocation of 1,000 billion tomans and the requirement to establish customs at the zero border point

Amirullah Shamqadri, Deputy Governor of Khorasan Razavi for Security and Law Enforcement, announced in this meeting the allocation of about 1,000 billion tomans for the smartization and development of the first phase of Shamtig and called for transparency in the timetable and spending process of this credit.

Emphasizing the need to establish customs and wagon X-ray equipment at the zero border point with Afghanistan, he said: "Customs does not make sense at a distance of 60 or 70 kilometers from the border. The relevant agencies must be present at the same point so that border processes are carried out properly."

Mehdi Asiai, the governor of Khaf, Iran, also referred to the goal of turning Shamtig into one of the country's important railway borders and called for meeting the requirements and needs of this route in line with the created capacities.

 

Financing the Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif Railway from Afghan Mines

Mehdi Rezaei, CEO of the Iran Railway Development Consortium, explained the dimensions of the Afghan railway project that the consortium, with 12 companies as members and as the domestic representative of Iran, has signed a contract with the Afghan side.

He clarified that the consortium does not grant any exclusive privileges to shareholder companies and any company with wagon or locomotive capacity can operate on this route.

Referring to the 700-kilometer Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif railway project, Rezaei said: "This project will be directly awarded to the Iranian parties applying and its financing is expected to be based on Afghanistan's economic capacities and the government's share of the mines being extracted."

He added that the necessary permits have been received from the Afghan government for the Iranian consortium to operate the railway.

The CEO of the Iranian Railway Development Consortium, stating that about 1.2 million tons of cargo are currently being transported through this corridor, predicted that this figure will reach 2 million tons by the end of the year.