Page 39 - IRANRptFeb19

Renewed US sanctions directed at Tehran have caused severe currency devaluation and surging inflation, while they have also disrupted parts supply chains and driven up the cost of available components. Iranian car buyers have thus been hammered by price increases in the past six months. Some brands have undergone price jumps of around 100% for both new and used vehicles. Making the situation worse, many parts makers that supply companies like Iran’s number one and number two automakers—Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA, respectively—have collapsed due to producers failing to debts from months back.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
A shipping line has been launched linking Mumbai, Mundra and Kandla on the western coast of India with Iran's sole oceanic port Chabahar and Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, Maritime News Agency reported on January 27.
The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran (PMO) in the Sistan and Baluchistan province, in which Chabahar is located, reportedly said the shipping line was part of a deal between Tehran and New Delhi to open up Chabahar port to imports and exports. They are to flow along the 7,200-kilometre multimodal International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which, like the port, is under development.
The INSTC is to connect India to northern Europe via a corridor running through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia with direct Indian Ocean sea routes between western India and Chabahar forming the first stage of transit. Rail routes running from Iran and through Azerbaijan to Moscow would also be core features of the INSTC.
A representative of the PMO was cited as saying the first cargo ship to use the new shipping line docked at Chabahar’s Port of Shahid Beheshti on January 27.
Crucially, last November, the US State Department exempted the port project in Chabahar from sanctions in recognition of its importance to landlocked Afghanistan’s growth and development as well as to India’s need to bypass Pakistan to trade with both Afghanistan and Central Asia. In potential trade terms, the project is also seen as very important by Iran’s remote neighbour Turkmenistan.
Chabahar, designated a free trade zone, is seen as India’s direct response to China and Pakistan’s joint investment in the Pakistani Arabian Sea port of Gwadar, located just 80km from the Iranian port.
Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been awarded a contract to build 250 kilometres (155 miles) of new metro lines in several cities around Iran, Bloomberg’s Tehran bureau has reported.
The engineering firm, also known as Khatam GHORB, is benefiting from the exodus of foreign companies from the Islamic Republic in the face of the sanctions assault commenced by Washington last year after Donald Trump walked out of the Iran nuclear deal. It is one of the richest companies in Iran, often being awarded multiple contracts across several sectors. The company was founded for reconstruction purposes after the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. During previous sanctions periods, such as the 2011-15 international round, Khatam gained ground because of foreign companies exiting Iran, as it is now. The announcement of the contracts came via Saeed Mohammad, chief of Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters. Initial work will be on linking
39 IRAN Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com