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Iran, Afghanistan gear up to inaugurate Khaf-Herat railway line
Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday that the Khaf-Herat railway link between Afghanistan and Iran will be officially inaugurated on Thursday.
Speaking to Irna News, Eslami also said Iran had invested 2.8 trillion Iranian rials (US$66.5 million) in the project, which he said will boost infrastructural development in Afghanistan and help bring economic prosperity to the country.
This will also become one of the main transit corridors in the region, Eslami added.
Khaf-Herat railway is 191 kilometers long and stretches across 77 kilometers inside Iran and 114 kilometers inside Afghanistan.
Earlier this month a trial freight train run was successfully completed and 400 tonnes of cement from Iran was delivered to Rosnak in Herat province.
A passenger train also carried Iranian railway officials to and from a meeting with their Afghan counterparts.
Construction of the project started in 2006 and was built in four stages – starting from an editing network inside Iran at Khaf.
Railway Gazette reported recently that completion has taken significantly longer than had been envisaged, with the latest section to be completed being the 62km stage 3 which ends at Rosnak on the road between Herat and the Iranian border.
The fourth stage is to be built in two phases. The first will be to extend the line to Robat Paryan and the second to Herat airport.
The Afghanistan Railway Authority said the line forms one of its most important regional connectivity projects, as it will provide the land-locked country with a link to Iranian ports and to the rail networks of Iran, Turkey and Europe.
Afghan officials told Railway Gazette that a passenger service is also being considered and that studies estimated that passenger traffic could reach 321,000 passengers a year, and freight traffic 6·8 million tonnes a year.
Terrorist activities continue to be observed along Afghanistan borders and along the India–Pakistan–Afghanistan corridor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Monday.
Speaking to Russia-based media outlet TV BRICS, Lavrov pointed to ongoing concerns in the Middle East, including its Asian regions.
He highlighted the importance of collaboration with India at the United Nations to advance a global counter-terrorism convention.
Lavrov stated that while the draft convention has already been prepared, consensus on its adoption has not yet been reached.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about militant threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed the concerns saying that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any country.
Noorullah Noori, Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, held a phone conversation with Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, to discuss bilateral border cooperation.
According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening border collaboration, with a particular focus on the ongoing renovation and updating of border markers. They also agreed to accelerate joint technical and legal meetings to enhance coordination.
As part of the agreement, the next meeting of senior border officials from Afghanistan and Iran is scheduled to take place in Iran in 1405 (2026–2027).
The Director General of the OIC Mission in Kabul, Mohammed Saeed Alayyash, met on Sunday with Rolf Dieter Reinhard, Head of the German Liaison Office for Afghanistan in Doha and Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy in Afghanistan.
During the discussion, both sides exchanged views on the latest developments in Afghanistan. They focused on the security situation, as well as the humanitarian and economic conditions faced by the Afghan people.
The two officials also reviewed recent political developments and broader challenges in the country, highlighting the need for continued international engagement and support.
The meeting emphasized the importance of ongoing cooperation and coordination between the OIC Mission and the German side in addressing Afghanistan’s challenges and in supporting efforts to promote stability and improve the humanitarian situation.
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