Gov't speeds up efforts to expand Iran's transit lines

The Iranian government's special representative for transit affairs announced here on Monday that the government is seeking to accelerate expansion of the country's transit lines.Government's special representative for transit affairs and deputy Road and Urbanization Minister Shahryar Afandizadeh told FNA that the government has approved expediting plans to expand road and railway links across the country, specially in the bordering provinces. He said given the country's unique geographical position, Iran can potentially transit a minimum volume of 40 million tons of goods annually. The official further noted the economic boom of the Central Asian states in the last decade, and said that the government has paid more attention to these countries in expanding Iran's transit lines. He said Iran can potentially transit 9 million tons of goods and products from the CIS and Russia to Africa, South Asia and the Middle-East via the Persian Gulf. Iran can also transit 10 million tons of Chinese goods destined for Europe through the northern parts of the country and transfer 4 million tons of Indian exports to the Middle-East and Europe via central Iran and the Persian Gulf. He said the abovementioned points and many other potentials that the country has in the transit sector require the government to work hard to speed up transit expansion in the country. In recent years, Iran has approved and implemented many projects to expand the country's transit lines. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the western province of Lorestan this morning to inaugurate two transit roads and a railway line.