Russia and Iran ink railroad deal that’s part of a vast transportation route, deepening alliance

Moscow and Tehran signed a deal Wednesday to finance and build one of the final links in a vast network of ship, railroad and roadway routes connecting Russia to the Persian Gulf, giving the Kremlin a way around crippling Western trade sanctions.

The $1.6 billion contract will be used to build a 100-mile railway linking the Iranian city of Rasht, near the Caspian Sea, to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. It will be part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that will allow freight transport from the Persian Gulf to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The deal was signed in Tehran by transport officials from both countries. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was at the ceremony while Mr. Putin attended through a video conference link. The presence of both leaders indicated the project’s significance to both countries.

“This is indeed a great event for the region, for the entire world transport infrastructure (and) for our countries,” Mr. Putin said, according to the state-owned TASS news agency.

The Rasht-Astara railway construction project is expected to take four years to complete but Russian officials said it could be finished earlier. Moscow has pitched INSTC as a 4,500-mile-long alternative to the Suez Canal route to northern Europe.

President Raisi thanked his Russian counterpart during the ceremony and described the Rasht-Astara railway project as a “major and strategic development” in the growing friendly relationship between Moscow and Tehran.

“I was glad to see you and hope to continue our contacts with you both in absentia and in person,” Mr. Putin replied. He said relations between both countries are at the “highest level.”

The Rasht-Astara railway project is the latest in a series of deals between Russia and Iran, both considered international pariah states by the West. Iran has emerged as Russia’s primary wartime arms supplier, delivering hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Shahed-136 suicide drone, some 300,000 artillery shells, and one million rounds of ammunition, according to the United States Institute of Peace.

The cooperation hasn’t been one-sided. Russia is reportedly considering providing Iran with first-generation jet fighters. 

“Russia has been offering Iran unprecedented defense cooperation, including on missiles, electronics, and air defense,” John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, said earlier this year.

In December, the State Department imposed sanctions on the Russian Aerospace Forces after it received Iranian-produced drones. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the deal violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and “further fuels the conflict in Ukraine.”

“The United States will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt these transfers and impose consequences on those engaged in this activity,” Mr. Blinken said.