Iran rail network can secure transit interests of regional states, official says

Peyman Sanandaji, Chairman of the Transport Commission at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with Mehr News Agency that Iran's rail transport capacity and service quality have been maintained despite the imposition of US sanctions on the country's railway sector and the prevailing economic conditions.

Sanandaji referred to the recent action by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which targeted the rail sector. He said that the inclusion of an entity on the sanctions list does not automatically mean a halt to all rail operations, and it cannot be said that rail operations will cease simply because the railway sector has been sanctioned.

He noted that under such circumstances, international payments and settlements, contractual collaborations, the supply of rail parts and equipment, and fleet maintenance could be affected. In his opinion, however, train operations will not come to a halt.

The chairman further stated that Iran's rail route is able to secure the transit interests of regional states, and that the geopolitical situation has turned the country's rail network into a connecting bridge between Central Asia, the Caucasus and Pakistan.

According to Mehr News Agency, Sanandaji's remarks addressed the latest rail transit situation of the country and the impact of the US sanctions on the railway sector.