Iran, Turkmenistan vow to develop bilateral relations

During the Sunday meeting, Rouhani underlined Iran's will to develop ties with Ashgabat, and called for the rapid completion a railway project linking Iran with the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, which enhance Tehran-Ashgabat relations. Berdimuhamedow, for his part, hailed Rouhani’s views with regards to strengthening bilateral and multilateral regional relations, and said his country will always support Iran’s stances in international scene. Berdimuhamedow also called for expansion of economic, political and cultural relations between Iran and Turkmenistan. The Turkmen president arrived in Iran’s capital, Tehran, to attend Rouhani’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. The swearing-in ceremony of Rouhani kicked off in the capital, Tehran, at 16:00 local time (1130 GMT) on Sunday in the presence of senior Iranian state and military officials as well as foreign dignitaries. Late in April, formr Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a railway project linking Gorgan city in Northern Iran to Inceburun in Turkmenistan and in a wider view the Central Asian countries to the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf waters through Iran. "The Gorgan-Inceburun railway links Europe, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan in the North to the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf (in the South)," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a ceremony held to mark inauguration of the railway project in Golestan province at the time. He underlined Iran's good geographical position in the world, and said, "Iran enjoys the best position for connecting East to the West and North to the South and it is also considered as the best country with regard to air security and for shortening roads and airways." Earlier in April, Iranian Minister of Road and Urbanization Ali Nikzad underlined that the joint railway connecting national networks of Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan will come into operation soon. The railway will link Iran to Turkmenistan and then to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and will connect the CIS countries with the Indian Ocean and high seas and the Persian Gulf littoral states. The primary agreement on the construction of the rail link among Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was signed between presidents of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in April 2007 in the city of Turkmenbashi and its final agreement was signed in a summit meeting in Tehran in September of the same year by the three presidents. The total route of the railway is 1,000 kilometers, of which 90 kilometers would be in Iran, 700 kilometers in Turkmenistan and 210 kilometers in Kazakhstan. The railway facilitates transportation of goods from the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf.