Iran-Oman-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan corridor to be launched

An Iranian senior diplomat has announced that the corridor of Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be launched in the future.

Referring to the recent visit of Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to Tehran, the Director-General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry for the Persian Gulf Affairs Alireza Enayati announced that “serious discussions have been held between Tehran and Muscat for the activation of the ‘Ashgabat Agreement’ which is about the transit route between Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan”.

He expressed hope in an interview with IRNA that the corridor will be launched in the future.

Enayati said that there has been also progress in the field of transportation and shipping between Iran and Oman, and added that transportation and transit cooperation were among the issues discussed during the visit of Oman's sultan to Tehran. 

The Ashgabat agreement is a multimodal transport agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Oman for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating the transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The agreement came into force in April 2016. Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the depository state for the agreement. The objective of this agreement is to enhance connectivity within the Eurasian region and synchronize it with other transport corridors within that region including the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the Omani Sultan who travelled to Iran on May 28-29 heading a high-ranking delegation, discussed ways to reinforce bilateral ties, especially in the areas of trade, energy, investment, and culture.