Iran signs construction, transit deals with Armenia

Iran and Armenia have signed deals to complete the highway construction and build a bridge connecting the neighbouring countries.

The deals worth $215 million were signed between two private Iranian companies and the Armenian government, and involve upgrading and completing sections of a highway connecting Armenia to Iran and building a second bridge on the border of the two countries, Mehr News Agency reported on October 23.

The agreements aimed to reduce the transit tariff between Iran and Armenia "to zero".

The deals were signed following a meeting in Yerevan between Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and Armenia's Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan.

The Iranian and Armenian ministers also agreed on holding a trilateral meeting with Georgia to facilitate transit via the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC).

Bazrpash will meet his Georgian counterpart in the next three days and discuss the issue.

The INSTC is a multimodal network spanning 7,200 kilometres of ship, rail, and road routes. It is designed to provide the shortest multi-modal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian and Baltic Seas.

The INSTC currently unites multiple transport systems across various countries, with Russia and Iran being the two countries contributing the most to the infrastructure development projects, accounting for 34.6 per cent and 33.7 per cent of total planned investments, respectively.