Iran and Russia took an important step by deepening their cooperation within the strategically important North-South International Transport Corridor (INSTC). The two countries officially launched direct freight train services on the eastern route of the corridor.
6500 Kilometre First Voyage: Getting to Aprin Land Port
The first direct freight train from Russia arrived at Aprin Land Port near Tehran after a challenging journey of about 10 days and 6500 kilometres. The shipment, consisting of 62 40-foot containers and fast pulp cargoes, was considered “an important stage” in the development of logistics services under the INSTC. A train flow of this scale requires intensive coordination between numerous organisations along the route, including railways, customs, freight forwarders and freight receivers, and this achievement is crucial for the sustainability of the corridor, officials said.
Goal: Making Iran a Transit Transit Centre
Deputy Minister of Commerce and Railway Management of Iran Morteza Jafari emphasised the importance of international cooperation and noted that there is already cooperation with Russia, CIS countries, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the fields of import, export and transit.
Speaking on the occasion of the arrival of the first Russian transit train at the Tehran Dry Railway Port, Jaafari said that this is the fruit of the efforts to activate the North-South Corridor, which started in 2022. He stated that in the past, cargo owners were reluctant to use this route due to the low volume of cargo on the route, the lack of direct train services, long stops at border crossings and high tariffs.
“In coordination with other countries in the region and the CIS, we aim to make Iran a centre of export, import and transit between countries,” Jafari said, clarifying the strategic goal of this new step.
Experts point out that this initiative not only strengthens trade relations between Iran and Russia, but also marks the beginning of regular train services between Iran, Russia and its Central Asian neighbours.
