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Construction of Rasht-Astara railway to start after March 2025 — Iranian Ambassador

Kazem Jalali explained that in 2023, Russia and Iran "signed a memorandum of understanding" to build this railroad - the only missing link in the process of creating the western land branch of the North-South Corridor

DUBAI, January 24. /TASS/. Russian and Iranian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian agreed during talks in the Kremlin on January 17 that Moscow and Tehran will sign an agreement to start construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad of the North-South International Transport Corridor by the end of March 2025, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said.

"During the talks between the delegations of the two countries with the participation of the presidents, the parties agreed to sign an agreement on the implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway construction project by the end of March 2025. An agreement on the construction of the railway will be signed by the end of March, and the Russian side will start the construction works," IRNA agency quoted the diplomat as saying.

Jalali explained that in 2023, Russia and Iran "signed a memorandum of understanding" to build this railroad - the only missing link in the process of creating the western land branch of the North-South Corridor. Now it is about a document that would allow construction to begin.

On May 17, 2023, Russia and Iran signed an agreement on the joint construction of the Rasht-Astara route. Moscow provides Tehran with an intergovernmental loan of 1.3 bln euro for the implementation of the project, while the total cost of construction is estimated at 1.6 bln euro.

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