The Armenian-Iranian Railway Is Also Very Important from the Geopolitical Point of View

• 03.07.2018, 17:25
•  Region,  World,  Armenia

Yerkir.am

The importance of the construction of the Armenian-Iranian railway for Armenia has been repeatedly stressed. Despite the profitability, this is a rather expensive project, and its implementation requires involvement of various stakeholders.

On March 5, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of Armenia Vahan Martirosyan discussed the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway at the meeting with the general director of the Office for Eurasian Affairs of the Chinese Civil Engineering Corporation Yazian Aymin.

Yazian Aymin said that they are interested in designing and the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway, stressing that the Ministry of Trade of China will discuss the possibility of including this program in the project "One zone - one road." He also added that in case of a positive outcome of the discussions they will be ready to prepare a technical-economic basis.

Of course, it is very important to establish a dialogue with China on this issue and attract investment from this country for the implementation of the project.

It is noteworthy that, in addition to economic benefits, the Armenian-Iranian railway is also very important from the geopolitical point of view.

Taking into account the policy of blockade and isolation of Armenia by Azerbaijan and Turkey, the construction of a railway with Iran will allow Armenia to break this blockade and become an alternative regional transit route. The Armenian-Iranian railway will also create a railway corridor - the Persian Gulf-Black Sea.

Another important circumstance: the construction and operation of the Armenian-Iranian railway will significantly reduce the interest of the Turkish side to leave the Armenian-Turkish border closed, forcing it to reconsider its policy towards Armenia.

At the same time, it should be noted that the construction of the railway will be beneficial not only for Armenia and Iran, but for the whole region and Central Asia, as it will join the Iranian railway network reaching Central Asia.