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Iran’s roads minister in Iraq to monitor cross-border railway project

Sunday, 25 May 2025 7:10 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 25 May 2025 7:10 AM ]

Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh travels to Iraq on May 24, 2025.

The Iranian minister of roads and urban development has traveled to Iraq to observe the progress of the cross-border railway project connecting the two neighboring countries.

Farzaneh Sadegh arrived in Baghdad on Saturday and was welcomed by Iraq’s deputy transport minister and the Iranian ambassador to Iraq.

She visited the site, where Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi resistance commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and their companions were assassinated by the US near Baghdad’s International Airport in January 2020.

Sadegh is also expected to meet with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as well as ministers of transport and interior.

During the meetings, she will discuss boosting Tehran-Baghdad cooperation, review the status of bilateral relations, and evaluate progress in transportation projects, particularly the 32-kilometer railroad connecting the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh to the Iraqi city of Basra.

She will further exchange views with the Iraqi officials on providing facilitations for pilgrims marking Arba’een, the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam.

When complete, the Shalamcheh-Basra rail link will facilitate the movement of millions of Iranian pilgrims heading to holy sites in Iraq.

Iran, Iraq break ground on construction of cross-border railway

The Iraqi prime minister and Iran’s first vice president have laid the foundation stone for the cross-border Shalamcheh-Basra railway.

The constriction of the cross-border railway officially started in 2023, two years after Iran and Iraq signed an agreement in that regard.

Prior to this, plans were shelved in 2014, the same year that Daesh Takfiri terrorists overran large swathes of land in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.

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