Sign of the importance given to the event, the Russian and Iranian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raïsi, supervised on Wednesday May 17, from a distance, the signing of an agreement relating to the construction of a 164 kilometer railway line . Under discussion since the early 2000s, this line should connect the Iranian cities of Astara, located on the border with Azerbaijan and bordered by the Caspian Sea, and Racht, further south.
This route aims to circumvent the traditional maritime routes and the international sanctions that target the two countries. From Racht, Russian products will be transported by rail to southern ports, from where they can be shipped to Asia, the Arabian Peninsula or East Africa. Russia will thus be able to avoid passing its goods through the Baltic Sea, which borders northern Europe, through the Black Sea, access to which is controlled by Turkey, and through the Suez Canal.
This is “a strategic step in the cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation”, welcomed the Iranian president, quoted by Agence France-Presse. Vladimir Putin believed that “this unique North-South transport artery will help to significantly diversify international transport flows”.
“The movement of goods through the new corridor will have a considerable competitive advantage. Thus, the delivery of goods from St. Petersburg to Bombay [in India] will take about ten days. By way of comparison, the journey via traditional trade routes takes up to thirty, forty-five days,” according to the Russian president, whose words were reported by AFP.
Tehran expects the Rasht-Astara rail link to be completed within three years. With the objective of transiting by rail up to 15 million tons of Russian cargo per year by 2030, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, visiting Iran this week.
Link included in a 7,200 kilometer corridor project
The objective of the two countries – subject to significant sanctions imposed by Western countries, in particular the United States – is to finalize the North-South corridor project of 7,200 kilometers in length. This network of sea, rail and land routes should allow Russian goods to reach the Indian Ocean without passing through the western sea lanes and the Suez Canal. But this project was viewed with caution by many experts, particularly because of the sometimes divergent interests of the countries involved. He must therefore pass through Azerbaijan, which has strained relations with Iran.
Hard hit by sanctions linked to its nuclear program, Iran is demonstrating day after day the improvement of its ties with Russia, China and Arab countries, in particular Saudi Arabia, its great traditional rival in the Middle East. Announcements of cooperation have multiplied in recent months with Russia in finance, trade in consumer goods or energy, even if the two countries sometimes find themselves in competition on certain markets, such as that of petrochemicals. Latest example, the second Russian bank, VTB, has opened an office in Tehran, while the two central banks are working to connect their interbank transfer systems.
In this context, the United States is above all concerned about the rapprochement in the military field, which the two countries are “in the process of amplifying” to an “unprecedented” level according to the spokesman of the American National Security Council, John Kirby. The latter cited in particular Moscow’s desire to acquire more sophisticated Iranian drones after having been delivered since August more than 400 drones, mainly of the Shahed type, used in Ukraine. Tehran has repeatedly dismissed accusations of arms supplies to Russia as “groundless”, claiming that it is not a party to the Ukrainian conflict.
