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Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putinis a Russian politician. Born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi participated, the first by video link, in the signing of an agreement on the financing and construction of a railway connection between the two countries through Azerbaijan, Reuters and TASS reported.

The Rasht-Astara line, which is entirely on Iranian territory, is part of the North-South transport corridor linking Russia to Azerbaijan, Iran, India and other countries by land and sea.

The construction of the railway will be carried out jointly by the two countries, according to the agreement signed by Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev and Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Planning Mehrdad Bazrpash. On the Russian side, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is on a working visit to Iran, also took part in the ceremony.

The deal envisages Moscow and Tehran jointly financing the design, construction and supply of services and goods along the 170-kilometre Rasht-Astara line. On Azerbaijani territory, Baku will also be involved in the construction of the link. Astara is a city located on the Caspian Sea coast and divided between Iran and Azerbaijan.

In March, the first deputy director of Russian Railways, Sergei Pavlov, announced that the approximate cost of construction of the railway track is $ 1.6 billion, and it can be built in four years or less.

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During the ceremony, Iranian President Raisi said that the potential of cooperation between Iran and Russia has not been fully realized and efforts should be made in this direction.

Putin, for his part, said he hoped to reach an agreement between Moscow, Baku and Tehran soon on cooperation in the overall development of the North-South transport corridor.

Novak added that Russia and Iran hope that the cargo turnover on the new railway will reach 2030 million tons per year by 15.

Vladimir Putin

Azerbaijan

Railway connection