Indian Council of World Affairs

The victory of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in the Iran presidential elections held on 28 June 2024 following the demise of President Ebrahim Raisi in an aircraft accident in May 2024, has the potential to put renewed focus on connectivity diplomacy. Connectivity is an important tool for Iran to pursue diplomacy within the region and outside and the President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian’s government will continue to invest in this sector. The victory of Masoud Pezeshkian in the presidential elections as a reformist candidate not only brings hope for renewal of the JCPOA but has the potential to catalyse the existing connectivity projects making it important to take an account of the current connectivity projects of Iran. 

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs[i] states that the strategic geographical position provides strong potential for the Persian Gulf country to foster regional integration by facilitating robust connectivity to Central Asia, Europe, Mediterranean countries and beyond. At a time when the Iranian economy is weak owing to sanctions; its strategic position in the region, bordering the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, provides an opportunity to connect with other countries through connectivity projects. Its advantageous proximity to shipping routes and key markets leads it to go for connectivity projects in tandem with the neighbouring countries. 

Iran has been emphasising strengthening its connectivity to Central Asia via Turkmenistan, to Europe via the Republic of Türkiye, to the Mediterranean countries via Iraq and to India through Chabahar Port. 

Iran-Central Asia via Turkmenistan 

As part of its “Look East” policy, Iran is expanding ties with Central Asian countries, and to that end, it is engaged in developing a regional transit corridor with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Last year, high-level representatives of the three countries held meetings to expedite the signing of an agreement on the new passage and standardising customs duties.[ii] Moreover, the route is planned as a critical link within the larger China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey-Europe-transport-corridor. The three parties involved will provide special privileges at the trilateral level; for instance, Turkmenistan has introduced a simplified system for Uzbek drivers to obtain a travel visa, and Iran has reduced the transit fees charged to Uzbek national carriers while planning to streamline fuel taxes. It is to be noted that Iran and Turkmenistan recently agreed on the establishment of a bilateral logistics centre and the construction of terminals and warehouses at Iranian ports.[iii]

Iran-Europe via Türkiye 

Secondly, Iran aims to enhance its connectivity to Europe via Türkiye and, therefore, unveiled a new railway link in June 2023. Tehran has begun the second phase of its Mianeh-Tabriz railway mega project and connected Iranian railways to Europe. The first phase was inaugurated in 2020-21, and the third and final phase has taken off.[iv] The mega project will lead to an increase in transport capabilities, and Iran has allocated three trillion tomans (a super unit of Iranian rial) equivalent to $70,880 for the completion of the project. Also, the network aims to increase trade volume amongst Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.[v]

Iran-Mediterranean via Iraq 

Thirdly, Iran wants to increase its presence in the Mediterranean through connectivity projects. The region is important as it is situated at the intersection of Africa, Asia and Europe. Also, energy explorations and the potential for natural gas and oil resources have increased the importance of the eastern Mediterranean.[vi] Iran aims to launch a railway connection project with Iraq and Syria reaching up to the Mediterranean; the then Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Reconstruction, Rostam Qassemi, signed an agreement with Baghdad to start the executive work of the railway connection project between Shalamcheh in Iran and Basra in Iraq in 2022. 

The project links the port of Khomeini on the Persian Gulf with the port of Latakia on the Mediterranean Sea through Iraq.[vii] The negotiations have been ongoing for two decades,[viii] but the agreement was signed for the first time in 2014 but got delayed due to the ISIL offensive in Iraq.[ix] The project was revived later as Iranian leaders, including the Minister of transport (2018), Vice President (2019), and former President Hassan Rouhani (2021), emphasised its significance and stressed that Iran was determined to complete this project.[x] The project gained momentum in September 2023 as Iraq laid the foundation and expected the project to be completed in the next 18 months.[xi] The project will facilitate the transportation of goods from Central Asian countries as well. 

Iran-India through Chabahar 

Also, Iran focuses on strengthening ties with India through the Chabahar port project. It is interesting to note that of the four projects mentioned by the foreign ministry of Iran, only Chabahar project aims to reach out to a country, unlike others that target specific regions. India and Iran began to discuss Chabahar port development during signing of the New Delhi Declaration in 2003 however, the project took off in 2015.[xii] India cooperates closely with Iran in the development of Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar and has a specific India-Central Asia Joint Working Mechanism for joint use of Chabahar port. Since 2018, when India Ports Global Company (IPGL) took over the operations sector, the port has handled shipments and trans-shipments from various countries. 

Iran and India continue to promote trade and transit through Chabahar port, including by collaborating with countries in West Asia and Central Asia to expand traffic through the port. India has already proposed the inclusion of Chabahar port in INSTC, which envisages the movement of goods from Mumbai to Bandar Abbas in Iran by sea; from Bandar Abbas to Bandar-e-Anzali, an Iranian port on the Caspian Sea, by road; from Bandar-e-Anzali to Astrakhan, a Caspian port in Russia, by ship across the Caspian Sea; and onward to other parts of Russia and Europe by rail.[xiii] Last month, Iran has signed a 10-year operational contract with India to develop the Shahid Behesti terminal at the Chabahar port. 

Conclusion 

Iran looks at connectivity as a tool to boost diplomacy in the neighbourhood. In June 2022, the late President Raisi said that one of the priorities for the Iranian government is to play an effective role in increasing regional integration by expanding trade through Iran as a cheap, fast and secure route. He further added that using the capacity of Iran’s North-South and East-West corridors to develop relations with Asian and European countries, along with removing barriers to rail transit soon, is one of the Iranian government’s priorities.[xiv]

There are speculations about changes in the domestic and external policies after the victory of Masoud Pezeshkian, however connectivity projects are a boon for Iranian economy and it is unlikely that the President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian will deviate from these projects. In fact, it is likely that following in the footsteps of former President Ebrahim Raisi, the new president will continue with connectivity diplomacy. In a nutshell, Iran’s quest to connect with the world through connectivity projects is not to wane anytime soon.

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*Dr. Lakshmi Priya, Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.

Endnotes

[i] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran, available at https://en-economic.mfa.ir/en/general_content/45020-Iran-s-priorities.html (Accessed on June 14, 2024).

[ii] Nuray Alekberli-Museyibova, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran Forge Ahead With Proposed Transit Corridor, Eurasia Daily Monitor, October 16, 2023, available at https://jamestown.org/program/uzbekistan-turkmenistan-and-iran-forge-ahead-with-proposed-transit-corridor/ (Accessed on June 14, 2024).

[iii] Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran agree to simplify international freight traffic regime, Xinhua, August 18, 2022, available at https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20220818/7e081a9ba78341ec92ca3294dc41742b/c.html (Accessed on June 17, 2024).

[iv] Iran’s ‘Greenest’ Railroad Opens, Financial Tribune, June 09, 2023, available at https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/118473/iran-s-greenest-railroad-opens (Accessed on June 17, 2024).

[v] Iran unveils new railway link connecting to Europe, The Cradle, June 09, 2023, available at https://thecradle.co/articles-id/168 (Accessed on June 18, 2024).

[vi] Nimit Karaaslan, Tehran’s Corridor to the Mediterranean Sea, March 12, 2021, Euro Politika available at https://www.europolitika.com/tehrans-corridor-to-the-mediterranean-sea/ (Accessed on June 18, 2024).

[vii] Project to Connect Iran Ports to Mediterranean via Iraq and Syria, The Syrian Observer, January 06, 2022, available at https://syrianobserver.com/foreign-actors/project-to-connect-iran-ports-to-mediterranean-via-iraq-and-syria.html (Accessed on June 18, 2024).

[viii] Ammar Jallo, From the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean: Iran's geopolitical expansion with a railway plan, Raseef, July 18, 2023, available at https://raseef22.net/english/article/1094116-from-the-persian-gulf-to-the-mediterranenean-irans-geopolitical-expansion-with-a (Accessed on June 18, 2024).

[ix] Maziar Motamedi, Why is the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad so important to Iran and Iraq?, Al-Jazeera, September 06, 2023, available at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/6/why-is-the-shalamcheh-basra-railroad-so-important-to-iran-and-iraq (Accessed on June 14, 2024).

[x] Iranian railway project hopes to link Iran with the Mediterranean via Syria and Iraq, Levant24, May 19, 2021, available at https://levant24.com/news/international/2021/05/iranian-railway-project-hopes-to-link-iran-with-the-mediterranean-via-syria-and-iraq/ (Accessed on June 20, 2024).

[xi] Historic Iraq-Iran railway link ‘to be ready in 18 months’, Arab News, September 26, 2023, available at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2381026/middle-east (Accessed on June 20, 2024).

[xii] Vinod Rai, India-Iran Agreement on Chabahar Port: Boost for Global Supply Chain, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, May 21, 2024, available at https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/india-iran-agreement-on-chabahar-port-boost-for-global-supply-chain/ (Accessed on June 20, 2024).

[xiii] Ibid

[xiv] Kazakh transit railway to Turkey via Iran inaugurated, Islamic Republic News Agency, June 19, 2022, available at https://en.irna.ir/news/84794153/Kazakh-transit-railway-to-Turkey-via-Iran-inaugurated (Accessed on June 20, 2024).