Iran is seeking to initiate a new strategic transport corridor through an agreement with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Greece to link the Indian Ocean and East Asia to Europe.
Linking the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea is among the key plank of connectivity programs attempted by Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran due to proximity to three important seas in the region, IRNA wrote.
The corridor has been initiated by Iran in order to speed up traffic along the route, strengthen regional connectivity, expand trade, and target transit-oriented convergence, according to the director-general of Transit and International Transportation Bureau at Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RMTO).
Above all, the multimodal Persian Gulf-Black Sea Corridor Agreement will diversify Iran’s transport corridors for transit from East and Southeast Asia including China, India, and the Persian Gulf states to the Caucasus and Europe and secure Iran’s interests economically and geopolitically.
The map shows a proposed Land corridor to link the Persian Gulf to Europe
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According to Mehdi Safari, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy, the sixth round of negotiations will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria in May, when the agreement is expected to be ready in order to be signed by the member states.
Previously in December, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia transited a trial run road freight fleet from Iran (Bileh Savar border terminal in northwestern Ardebil Province) to the Black Sea region. In the trial run, the exported goods were loaded in Iran, and the destination was Europe.
The achievement was accomplished following the visit of the Iranian delegation headed by Javad Hedayati, the director-general of Iran Transit and International Transportation Bureau, to Azerbaijan and Georgia in November, to form a road link from Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to the Black Sea and Eastern Europe.