The first cargo from Europe has been delivered to Iran via a new transit corridor

Almaty. November 23. Silkroadnews – The first cargo from Germany has been delivered to Iran via a multimodal route connecting Iran to Europe, IrTAG writes.

“Two cargo containers have entered Iran from the Armenian border. The containers were shipped from Hamburg in a relatively shorter journey compared to the Turkish route”, secretary of International Transport Association of Iran Gholamhossein Amiri said.

“In the past couple of years, we have had problems on the Turkish side of the border regarding transportation of cargo from Europe. This prompted us to start negotiations with several other countries for alternative routes”, he added.

Tehran and Ankara have been dealing with a long dispute arising from different fuel prices in the two neighboring countries. In addition, the common border turned into the scene of frequent traffic congestion for transit trucks. According to the official, the Iranian government demanded Ankara to guarantee the safety of Iranian trucks, yet the results were found to be unsatisfactory.

The ministry advised truck drivers to use two alternative routes: one through Azerbaijan, Russia, and the another one through Armenia, Georgia, the Black Sea, then through Romania or Bulgaria.

“The cost of transportation through the (new) route turns to be 1-2% lower (compared to the Turkish route)”, G. Amiri said.