Iran moves forward with railway link to Syria via Iraq
Iran is building a 20-mile stretch of railway that will connect railways throughout Iraq to neighboring Syria.
As the United States enacts sanctions on Iran, Iran is increasing its influence in Iraq with plans for a railway that could work around US restrictions.
The state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) revealed details Nov. 12 about its project to build a railway connecting Iran's Shalamcheh border crossing to the port of Basra in southeast Iraq.
Maziar Yazdani, RAI's deputy head of infrastructure and technical affairs, said the Shalamcheh-Basra leg of the project will require only 20 miles of new track at a cost of about $52,000. With the new addition, the rail system will span Iraq to reach Syria's Mediterranean port city of Latakia.
The idea has been kicked around for years, and in August, Iran and Syria expressed their willingness to build a railway connecting the two countries, along with Iraq, in an attempt to counter the Western sanctions on Iran and boost economic cooperation.
