A meeting was held in Astana between Kazakhstani officials and an Iranian delegation led by Farzaneh Sadek, Minister of Roads and Urban Development. This was reported by the press service of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
One of the key topics of the talks was the development of port infrastructure. The Iranian side announced that the process of allocating a plot of land to Kazakhstan at the Shahid Rajai Port (in the city of Bandar Abbas on the northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz) had been finalized. Once the necessary procedures are completed, the plot will be transferred to the Kazakhstani side.
In addition, Iran confirmed its readiness to provide Kazakhstan with opportunities to operate at the port of Chabahar, which offers direct access to the markets of South and Southeast Asia. According to Farzaneh Sadek, construction of the Zahedan–Chabahar railway line is more than 90% complete, and the facility is scheduled to begin operations in the coming months. Once the line becomes operational, the port of Chabahar will be integrated into the international rail network connecting the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, and Europe.
In response, Kazakhstan confirmed its readiness to consider providing the Iranian side with port areas, berths, and terminals at the ports of Aktau and Kuryk to support the development of Iranian companies’ logistics operations in the Caspian Sea region.
And rail transport as well
At the meeting, the parties also paid special attention to the development of the “North–South” international transport corridor. By the end of 2025, the volume of cargo transported along the “North–South” corridor had increased by 12% to 3.5 million metric tons. Rail freight traffic between the two countries grew by 69%.
To further unlock the route’s potential, the Kazakh side proposed developing a joint “roadmap” for modernizing transportation infrastructure. Implementing this set of measures will increase the corridor’s capacity to 20 million metric tons per year.
The parties also noted the importance of the five-party railway agreement signed between China, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey, as well as the upcoming signing of a four-party tariff agreement between Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran, which will create additional conditions for the growth of trade and transit.
