“A new bridge, connecting Azerbaijan and Iran over the Astarachay River, is set to provide CIS and Eastern European countries with access to the Gulf of Oman,” Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Khairullah Khademi said at a meeting held at the Plan and Budget Organization of Iran.
Khademi reported that 95 percent of the construction on the 138-kilometer Qazvin-Rasht freeway has been completed, with ongoing construction on the remaining 8.2 kilometers of the road. “This road will enhance trade relations between the central and southern regions of Iran with the regions of Azerbaijan and Russia.”
Describing the Qazvin-Rasht freeway as an important part of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Khairullah Khademi stressed that the new road and its facilitation of transit cargo transportation would contribute to expanding trade between Iran and its neighbors.
