The Iranian Ministry announced on Oct. 25 that an agreement was reached during meetings between Iran’s Minister of Transport and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh, and Pakistan’s Ministers of Commerce, Communications, and Railways Jam Kamal Khan, Abdul Aleem Khan, and Hanif Abbasi, to reopen “operations of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) container train in December, as part of a broader plan to boost rail connectivity and trade between the two neighbors,” reported Tehran Times. The corridor, stretching from Istanbul, Turkiye through Tehran, Iran and over to Islamabad, Pakistan, extends for 6,543 km (over 4,000 miles) and would cut around two weeks off the travel time by the traditional sea route.
“Pakistan’s Ministry of Railways announced that both sides will draft a joint action plan to expand rail transport cooperation. They also agreed to launch the project to upgrade the Quetta-Taftan railway line next year, a key route linking the two countries.
Both nations committed to strengthening commercial and passenger rail operations and to creating a coordinated mechanism to follow up on bilateral agreements.”
Iran’s Minister of Transport and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh also noted that both countries’ corridor capacities could facilitate linking China to Europe through their shared routes. Last week, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran Muhammad Mudassir Tipu announced that Pakistan had issued a new executive order aimed at promoting barter trade with Iran.
This containerized shipping corridor is compatible with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Eurasian Land-Bridge program as developed by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Executive Intelligence Review and the Schiller Institute.
