(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 11.​ Transport, customs, and energy issues between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia will be discussed in Baku next week, Amin Taraffo, the Director General for International Affairs at Iran's Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, told local media, Trend reports.

According to him, next week, a meeting of the joint commissions of the three countries will be held with the participation of the deputy prime minister of Azerbaijan, the deputy prime minister of Russia, and the minister of roads and urban development of Iran.

Taraffo said that the meeting will exchange views on the processes and infrastructure related to the passage of trucks between Iran and Azerbaijan, as well as areas of cooperation related to the movement of Russian trucks.

“The goal is to facilitate the passage of trucks and simplify the customs process. This is aimed at maximizing the use of freight transportation on the East and West routes of the North-South International Transport Corridor,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000, laid the foundation for the North-South Transport Corridor. In general, several countries have ratified the said agreement (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, and Ukraine). The purpose of creating the corridor is to reduce the time of delivery of goods coming from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (the delivery time on the current route is more than six weeks; it is expected to be three weeks via “North-South”).

The Qazvin-Rasht railroad (175 km) was put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijan's railroads with Iran's railway network within the corridor. The Rasht-Astara railroad is to be built on Iranian territory.

The North-South Corridor has three directions within Iran. The eastern direction is Turkmenistan and Central Asian countries; the middle direction is Russia and other countries across the Caspian Sea; and the western direction is Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern European countries.

On May 17, 2023, an agreement was signed between Russia and Iran on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad in Gilan province in northern Iran. Nine stations will be built on the Rasht-Astara railroad line, which is about 163 kilometers long. With the completion of this railroad, the North-South international corridor will be improved, and Iran's railroad network will be integrated with the Caucasus countries, Russia, and Northern European countries. According to the agreement, the Russian side is expected to spend 1.6 billion euros for the construction of this railroad. This railroad will be built and completed within 48 months.

MENAFN11102025000187011040ID1110181656