Page 39 - IRANRptJun19

projects on the agenda, among which stands the electrification project focused on the Garmsar-Incheboroun railroad, using Russian finance.”
He also referred to Iran's recently acquired membership of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Transport Committee , adding that the status would help motivate Iran to develop its railway cooperations with other countries that feature in INSTC.
The Russian official said that the country was willing and able to loan Iran money to help develop its railway infrastructure.
Rasuli and Misharin also discussed the development of the Rasht-Astara railway connection, to be partly funded by Iran’s direct neighbour to the north Azerbaijan.
The meeting came hot on the heels of a previous side meeting in Helsinki during the 70th meeting of the Council for Rail Transport of the Commonwealth Member States .
More Iranians opted to stay at home during the recently concluded long Persian New Year Nowruz holidays, data released by the Iran Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO) shows.
Iranians’ spending power has plummeted since the US last year introduced its toughest ever sanctions regime aimed at Tehran. The Iranian rial (IRR) has collapsed against the dollar, losing around 70% in value, while annual inflation has leapt to around 30%.
According to the data, international airport traffic in Iran decreased 50% y/y during the holiday period (March 17- April 6) while domestic flights fell by 15-20% y/y.
A total of 25,546 flights were seen at Iranian airports during the period, carrying more than 3.17mn passengers.
Tehran’s biggest international terminal, at Imam Khomeini International Airport City (IKA), saw the bulk of travellers during the holiday season, with 3,253 flights carrying 546,183 passengers. This was followed by the older Mehrabad (THR) airport, largely used for internal flights. Mehrabad, closer to Tehran city centre than IKA, recorded 2,685 flights carrying an unspecified number of people.
Middle-class tourists who have in previous years headed in their droves to neighbouring South Caucasus nations m ostly opted to stay in-country and head to private residences. Despite the reduction in Iranian travel abroad, nearby Georgia did note a 21% increase in passenger traffic during Q1 2019, with 314,065 people entering and leaving the country by air.
A secondary shipping route connecting the western coast of India and Iran has been established with the arrival of a cargo ship, IRNA has reported. The route links the seaport of Kandla in India’s northwestern Gujarat state with Iran’s Qeshm island in the southern Persian Gulf.
Work is proceeding on creating the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-kilometre, multimodal project which will see India connected to northern Europe via a corridor running through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. The direct sea routes between western India and Iran are obviously crucial to its chances of success.
Qeshm Island’s Kaveh International Port appears to be acting as a secondary port to Iran’s only oceanic port, Chabahar, which India has a long-term contract with Iran to develop. The development of Chabahar, however, is even exempted from US sanctions given its potential importance to giving Afghanistan an economic lift. Qeshm enjoys no such exemption.
The first ship to dock at Qeshm Island port was the Neshat, a 172-metre-long, 26-metre-wide vessel. It carried 13,000 tonnes of industrial goods from India.
39 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com