KABUL (Agencies): The Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) said this week on X that it has signed an agreement with the Iranian Railway Consortium to operate the Khaf-Herat railway line.
According to ARA, Iran will send 100,000 tons of goods via this railway line in the first year of operation. From then on, the volume will increase by 100,000 tons per year.
Bakhtur Rahman Sharaft, the head of the railway authority, said that the construction of the first phase of the 4th section of Khaf-Herat Railway Project will start next week, ARA reported.
Also, with the signing of this contract, transfer of goods will continue normally through Khaf-Herat, while work is done on the 4th section. This line is connected to Turkey and European countries through Iran and the Iranian railway network.
Earlier this year, the first trial run of cargo from Iran to Afghanistan via the Khaf-Herat railway was completed.
This shipment included 17 wagons that transferred 655 tons of railway equipment for the further construction of the rail line.
The Khaf-Herat railway is 225 kilometers long, with 140 km of the railway track traversing Afghanistan and the remaining 85 km running through Iran. The construction of the Khaf-Herat railway line, which links Khaf in eastern Iran with Herat in western Afghanistan, started in 2007. The project has a reported value of $75 million and is being funded by Iran.
Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Commerce and Industry, says that currently the amount of trade between Kabul and Tehran totals $2 billion per year but they want this trade to grow to $10 billion dollars per year.
A number of members of a visiting Iranian delegation also say that considering the opportunity that has arisen, Afghanistan and Iran should make the most of it for the expansion of trade relations.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, also met with the Iranian delegation.
In this meeting, the two sides emphasized the need for more cooperation between the two countries as neighbors.
Muttaqi said that drug production in Afghanistan has been eradicated and the conditions for commercial and economic cooperation are more favorable than before.
