Iran in talks with Taliban to resume 'Silk Road' rail project

Iran is in talks with the Taliban to extend a rail link from its border city of Khaf to the Afghan city of Herat, an official has said.

The two neighbors marked the opening of their first shared railway network in December 2020, linking Khaf with the Afghan town of Rozanak about 150 kilometres away. But plans for the project to be expanded to reach Afghanistan's third largest city of Herat have been thrown off course since the sudden collapse of the US-backed government in August.

According to Press TV, on Tuesday, Deputy Head of the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company Abbas Khatibi said talks were underway with the Taliban to resume the project.

"Due to the political developments in Afghanistan and the change of government in the country, the construction and completion of the project was stopped for a while, but Iranian officials have recently held talks with the Taliban leadership in this regard and both sides intend to extend the railway to Herat and operate it," he was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

The Khaf-Herat railway runs along the East-West transit corridor, connecting China to Turkey and Europe via Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

"This project will somehow revive the Silk Road. It can connect the East to the West and play an important role in reducing export and transit costs," Khatibi said.

The railway, he said, has an annual transport capacity of one million passengers and 6 million tonnes of goods which will accelerate transit and cut associated costs.

"The origin and destination of this railway is two economic poles in Iran and Afghanistan, and through this railway line, the possibility of communication between Afghanistan and the southern ports of Iran will be established.

ME