TEHRAN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash on Friday underlined Turkmenistan's "special status" in advancing the Iran-Rah Initiative, which was put forward by Iran to allow its neighbors and other regional states to use the country as a transit route and logistics base.
Bazrpash made the remarks in a meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow in Ashgabat, during which both sides also discussed bilateral relations, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The Iranian minister described Turkmenistan as Iran's strategic partner, noting that the country was the gateway to Central Asia and provided access to the East-West transport corridor, which will connect Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq and Türkiye, as well as the International North-South Transport Corridor, a transport route linking South Asia to Northern Europe.
Bazrpash urged the two countries to take an important step toward greater synergy in their partnership and bilateral relations.
He also highlighted the necessity to eliminate transportation taxes between the two countries, and called for increasing exchange of technical and engineering services, particularly in the fields of transportation and energy.
According to Tasnim, the two sides also stressed the need to enhance multilateral cooperation with third countries, such as Uzbekistan, Türkiye, Iraq and Kazakhstan. ■
