Iran is pressing to activate the Iraq-Syria transit line

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[size=52]Iran is pressing to activate the Iraq-Syria transit line[/size]

[size=45]On the third day of the meetings of the Syrian-Iranian Ministerial Economic Committee in Tehran, Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous began a visit to Tehran, on Friday, at the head of an economic delegation to participate in the meetings and sign new agreements between the two countries.[/size]
[size=45]According to Syrian official media, all aspects of cooperation between the two countries will be discussed, especially on the economic level, and mechanisms for implementing agreements and memorandums of understanding, which were reached during the visit of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Syria last May.[/size]
[size=45]Follow-up economic sources in Damascus said: Iran has recently increased its pressure on Damascus to recover its debts, estimated at fifty billion dollars, according to documents leaked earlier to minutes from a meeting of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council. During the Iranian President's visit to Damascus, five major agreements were signed to repay debts, including the investment of Maqbara Zahid in Tartous and another in Deir ez-Zor, with a total of five thousand hectares of agricultural land, phosphate mines, oil wells, and a communications project.[/size]
[size=45]The sources saw that Iran is making persistent efforts to activate a land transit line through Iraq to Syria, in addition to an organized and unorganized shipping line between Iran and Syrian ports. With the aim of revitalizing an isolated trade line to avoid international economic sanctions, this project is called the East-West Corridor in Iran.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the agreement to zero customs duties between the two countries recently entered into force and deals with the Iranian currency instead of the dollar in financial transactions with Syria.[/size]
[size=45]According to the sources, Iranian agreements and projects are still facing many difficulties and obstacles in Syria, related to the laws and legislation regulating economic activity in Syria, as their implementation is marred by rampant administrative corruption, in addition to the political obstacles related to the American presence in Syria. Other obstacles relate to the Syrians’ hostility to the Iranian presence on their lands.[/size]
[size=45]While Iran seeks to exploit American laxity in the region to advance its projects, it encounters violations of the administrative system in Syria and weak government performance, which hinders the speed of its expansion on the ground.[/size]
[size=45]Iranian Assistant Minister of Economy, Ali Fikri, said when he inspected the Albukamal crossing, located on the Syrian-Iranian border, last May, that “the transit of goods with Syria is still the missing trade link in the East-West corridor.”[/size]
[size=45]It was agreed at the meeting of the Joint Economic Cooperation Committee between Iran and Syria, last Wednesday, to establish joint free zones with Syria, according to what was reported by the Iranian “Mehr” Agency, which quoted the Iranian Minister of Roads, Mehrdad Bazarbash, as saying: In recent months, Reaching good consensuses with the aim of accelerating the pace of agreed projects, including the project to establish joint free zones with Syria, which will enter the implementation phase soon. He also noted the executive measures that he described as good between Tehran and Damascus, with the aim of accelerating the implementation of bilateral agreements.[/size]
[size=45]The Iranian Minister of Roads called for the formation of a permanent energy committee between the two sides, to continue its activity until the implementation of bilateral memorandums of understanding on gas and electricity. He stressed the necessity of completing the railway connection project. Because it contributes to enhancing transit trade between the two countries. He expressed the Iranian Railways Company's readiness to study the issue of railway repair on the Syrian side, which has been completely dismantled in Syrian territory in recent years.[/size]
[size=45]The Syrian Minister of Economy, Samer Al-Khalil, spoke about reaching “good agreements” in the areas of tourism and transit, the Iranian Central Bank’s dealings with its Syrian counterpart, and the agenda of the free trade agreement.[/size]
[size=45]The Syrian delegation, which accompanied Arnous to Tehran on Friday, includes the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Muhammad Hassan Qatna, the Minister of Electricity, Ghassan Al-Zamil, the Minister of Industry, Abdul Qadir Joukhadar, the Chairman of the Planning and International Cooperation Authority, Fadi Salti Al-Khalil, the Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Muhammad Issam Hazma, and the Director of the Asia Department in Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Mohamed Haj Ibrahim. The Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade had preceded them in Tehran to chair the Syrian side in the meetings of the Joint Economic Committee.[/size]
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