‘We Hope that Obstacles Will Be Removed’: Iran Seeks to Build Railway Connecting Iran, Iraq, Syria
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Iran, Syria, and Iraq signed an agreement Wednesday, July 3rd, to construct an Iran-funded railway from Shalamcheh in the Islamic Republic to the Mediterranean coastal city of Lattakia in Syria, bypassing trade waterways typically patrolled by the US.
Iran´s Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said at the Iran-Iraq economic trade forum in Tehran in April that the new railway, which is projected to pass through Iraq’s main port city of Basra on its way from Iran to Syria, would establish the economic independence of the three partners from US constraints, all three having been burdened by US sanctions at one time or another.
“We hope that obstacles will be removed through the presence of the private sector,” Jahangiri said.
Iranian Deputy Minister and Chairman of Roads Maintenance and Transport Organization Shahram Adamnejad, at the recent meeting between the three partner countries July 3rd, framed the project as part of the overall revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route—in which China recently invested $900 billion.
On Sunday Iran announced that in 60 days it would suspend more major commitments of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or 2015 nuclear deal, having already ratcheted up its uranium enrichment to 4.5% by Monday, as tensions between the US-allied Sunni Arab bloc and Iran-supported Shi’a bloc continue to heat up.
