Iran's customs office (IRICA) says a key road corridor operating under the auspices of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) that links Pakistan to Turkey via Iran has been launched on a pilot basis.
IRICA spokesman Rouhollah Latifi said on Thursday that two first shipments using the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) corridor had arrived in the Iranian territory overnight through an eastern border crossing with Pakistan.
The shipments contained tires and cloth and were transported under the TIR Convention, an international scheme that allows cargoes to travel from departure to destination without being opened up for customs checks.
The ITI corridor has been formed based on agreements in the 10-nation ECO, a key economic bloc which seeks to facilitate trade and investment in the region.
The corridor, known as ECO’s east-west route, is expected to deepen economic relations between Iran, Turkey and Pakistan as founding members of the bloc.
Iran has already been accommodating freight transport under TIR between two ECO members of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
While hailing the launch of ITI as a major success, Latifi said IRICA’s policy is to encourage increased freight transit through the Iranian territory to both gain economic benefits for the country and to allow increased trade cooperation between the neighbors.