Iran urges establishment of powerful bloc by Caspian Sea littoral states

Addressing the third ministerial meeting of Caspian Sea littoral states in Tehran on Wednesday, he said that despite serious efforts by the countries, commercial and economic cooperation and infrastructure have not developed sufficiently and there is still a long way ahead. He proposed the establishment of joint fund and modifying transit and customs tariffs and removal of physical and non-physical obstacles in the way of boosting cooperation among the Caspian states. Akhoundi said that development of multimodal transportation, promoting Rasht-Astara-Moscow corridor and increasing transit of goods in eastern side of Caspian Sea are essential for broadening transport cooperation among Caspian Sea littoral states. Calling for encouraging investment in various sections of transportation, the minister described exchange of information aimed at using modern technology and establishment of joint expert committees and enhanced scientific and educational cooperation among the Caspian states as necessary. Putting into operation multimodal transport on Caspian Sea and railway between southern ports and Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe and vice versa in eastern Caspian Sea and corridor of Qazvin-Rasht-Astara-Moscow and vice versa in western Caspian Sea are among Iran's priorities for cooperation with the countries of the region, he said. Third meeting Caspian Sea transport ministers wound up on Wednesday. Representatives of Azerbaijan Republic, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan convened in Tehran to study promotion of transportation cooperation among Caspian Sea littoral states. Two earlier meetings were held in Baku and Astarkhan respectively. Source: IRNA