Iran, Turkey agree to build $1.6 billion trade rail link

Iran and Turkey have agreed to start building a new joint rail line that will serve as a strategic trade corridor between Asia and Europe, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday.

The Marand–Cheshmeh Soraya transit line, which will run toward Turkey’s Aralik border region, will span about 200 kilometres and cost roughly $1.6 billion.

Iranian authorities say construction is expected to take three to four years to complete.

Speaking in Tehran alongside his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Araghchi said the two sides had agreed in their meeting “to begin work, on a priority basis, to connect the two countries’ railway lines at the border.”

Earlier this month, Iran’s transport minister Farzaneh Sadegh said the project would transform the southern section of the historic Silk Road into an “all-rail corridor ensuring the continuity of the network between China and Europe”.

She said it would enable “fast and cheap transport of all types of cargo with minimal stops”.

The ancient Silk Road linked East Asia to the Middle East and Europe for centuries before declining with the rise of maritime trade routes.

China launched its Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, seeking to revive those connections through major maritime, road and rail projects. Despite close political relations with China, Iran has been largely left out of the initiative’s major investments.

Iran has sought to expand infrastructure and trade ties with neighbouring states as it works to revive its strained economy.