The first transit railway cargo from Russia to India arrived in Iran on Tuesday through the border crossing with Turkmenistan to officially open the eastern section of the North-South railway corridor, IRNA reports.

The Russian train was met on the territory of Iran with a ceremony attended by the First Vice-President of Iran Mohammad Mohber, as well as the Ministers of Transport, oil, Industry and agriculture, etc.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mohber stressed the determination of the Iranian government to expand trade with neighboring countries, especially in the transit sector, saying: "The country's transit capacity has increased to 20 million tons, and through planning and taking appropriate measures, a transit of 300 million tons of goods per year can be achieved."

Russian Transit train with 39 containers, Chekhov left the station on July 5 and traveled 3,800 kilometers through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, entering Iran. The cargo will be delivered to the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran via a 1,600 km railway route, and then will be shipped by sea to the Indian port of Nhava Sheva.

The North-South corridor consists of three sections of the route: eastern, western and middle. The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway is the eastern line of the corridor.

The Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Rostam Gasemi, in addition to the eastern Serakhs-Serakhs crossing on the Turkmen-Iranian border, there are two other directions, including Inche-Burun-Garmsar, which are also active, "thanks to our good relations with Turkmenistan." According to him, these routes will also be developed in transit terms.

"We have a memorandum of understanding on the transit movement of trains with Russia, we also have contracts with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which show that traffic in this corridor will continue," he said.

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