Iran approves the outline of an East to West corridor plan built around the Herat to Mazar-e-Sharif railway

Iran's national transit headquarters, chaired by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, approved the outline of an East to West corridor document on Saturday 1 August 2026, built around the Herat to Mazar-e-Sharif railway project. The stated goals are to raise Iran's share of the international transit market, strengthen the country's geo-economic position, deepen economic ties with Afghanistan and the other countries along the route, and create new mechanisms for financing strategic projects.

The same session approved measures to simplify customs procedures and through haulage of goods, an instruction on clearing returned empty containers and temporary entry, arrangements to substitute for the southern ports in supplying essential goods and in transit across shared borders with neighbours, and the architecture of a smart platform for monitoring the public transport fleet that will connect to the single window for integrated transit services.

Aref described the development of transit corridors as one of the government's main priorities, and called the expansion of corridor capacity and the build out of dry and northern ports alongside the Persian Gulf ports a strategy for improving Iran's standing in regional transport.