Russia sends first commercial train to Saudi Arabia via Iran

The first Russian train carrying commercial goods has arrived in Iran, on its way to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on a journey that is the first of its kind through Iranian territory, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. 

IRNA disclosed that the transit cargo entered Iran on Saturday through the Incheh-Boroun border crossing with Turkmenistan, heading to Bandar Abbas in the south to be shipped to Saudi Arabia.

The agency quoted the Director General of Customs Affairs in Golestan Province Shahriar Shahriari saying that the train has 36 containers and passes through Iran as part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). 

He pointed out that this route will reduce delivery times by several days. 

It will also allow exporting Russian goods to Saudi Arabia while reducing customs tariffs to almost half the normal amounts. 

On 21 June, a container train heading to Saudi Arabia set off from the Russian Chelyabinsk freight station as part of the North-South Transport Corridor through Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, according to the Russian Sputnik news agency. 

The Russian ambassador to Riyadh stated, in an interview with Sputnik in mid-February, that his country and Saudi Arabia intend to raise the volume of trade exchange to $5 billion, adding that bilateral trade and economic relations are characterised by positive dynamics. He noted that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $1.6 billion.

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