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The special geographical situation of Iran and its location on international trade routs half way between the East and the West, and the North and the South, Promises a suitable market for providing transport services in international trade. This report deals with the potentials for transit of goods in Iran's railway, road, ports and shipping, airways, and compound transportation sectors.

Transit of goods over the Iranian territory, from the ports, borders and other sites where cargoes art to be shipped requires planning and co-ordination. Because of lack of balance between the volume of cargoes unloaded or loaded by vessels at ports and the removing capacity of transport vehicles, it seems necessary to take some measures, besides building storage houses for storing the supplies. Transport improvement schemes so as to deliver transit goods as quickly as possible are necessary. In this regard, the following measures are worth mentioning: providing as many road transport vehicles as required; Introducing chartered trains, whose schedules are synchronized with those of compound transport and passenger trains, in specific routes where railway and road transport vehicles could be used. The later assumes a special importance as it will economic on fuel and depreciation of the country's means of transport, and would decrease parallel transportations.

Railway is an important means of transport which can be used for transit of goods in the country. Here before dealing with Iran's railway potentials, we review the related projects which are now well under way in Asia. The prospects for the connecting routes of the Asian countries and consequently those of Iran seem to be bright.

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has been studying the project of a transit corridor from the South-East to the west since 1960; if the project is implemented, Singapore will be connected to Europe by railway. This transit railroad will become operational when it links 547 km. railway between Kerman and Zahedan inside Iran and with 1400 km. Of railway between Bangladesh and Thailand. Another project is an intermediate transit corridor which starts from China and passes through Central Asian countries and Iran. (by linking with Sarakhs-Mashhad railroad) to provide for transportation via the two following routes:

A) The northern route which passes through Jolfa and joins railroads of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine to the Black Sea and Eastern and Northern Europe.

B) The western route which joins the Middle East Arab countries and Europe through Turkey.

A third project is a northern transit corridor which provides for transportation from Japan and Korea to Europe by means of the Russian Federation's route. By this route and a diversion toward the railway network of central Asia, Transit Transport becomes available over the Iranian land towards the Middle East countries.

The railway network of the Islamic Republic of Iran is 5 thousand 200 kilometers long which passes the two axes on the north-south and east-west lines. The east-west axis starts from the border between Iran and Turkey at Razi station and passes through the cities of Salmas, Tabriz, Zanjan, Tehran and Shahrud and ends in Mashhad railway station; in future, it will be linked to Tajan station in the Republic of Turkmenistan upon completion of Mashhad-Sarakhs railroad. On this axis, in the Azerbaijan province, the Tabriz-Jolfa electric railway connects the railway network of Iran to those of the republic nations of the North and thus provides for transportation to the Northern and southern Europe. In addition, from Garmsar station, the northern railway passes through the mountainous area of Firouzkouh up to Sari, and continues toward Bandar Turkaman and Gorgan.

The North-South axis after passing the cities of Tehran/Qom, Arak and the mountainous area of Lorestan then joins Bandar Imam and Khorramshahr ports in the South. By the railway connection between Bafgh and Bandar Abbas, which may be considered as a transit transport center, the transit corridor that connects Bandar Abbas, Bafgh, Yazd, and Tehran to the north and exits from Bandar Turkaman, Razi and Jolfa borders, will play a significant role in transporting cargoes.

The cargo exchange stations along the border away from the railway network are as follows:

Mirjaveh border: Zahedan-Mirjaveh railway which is 92 km. long is linked to the railways of Pakistan and other Eastern countries. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan's wagons and locomotives are now being used in railway transportation to Pakistan.

Lotfabad border: By railway connection between Artigh and Lotfabad, Turkmenistan's railroad enters the Iranian soil. In this place a loading and unloading terminal is under construction for compound transportation to the northern countries.

Astara border: By continuation of Azerbaijan's Astara railroad inside Iranian soil in Astarachai region, a loading and unloading terminal will be established for compound transportation by means of transport facilities of the Northern countries. Therefore , of the whole railway network, the following routes can be established as transit corridors:

- Khorramshahr port-Bandar Imam route through Ahvaz, Andimeshk, Dorud, Arak, Qom, Tehran, Garmsar, Sari and Bandar Turkaman.

-The above-mentioned route and its continuation up to Gorgan by Compound railway-road transportation from the "pol" exit border.

-Khorramshahr Port-Bandar Imam route through the South-Tehran-Zanjan- Tabriz-Jolfa railway by means of Azerbaijan-Armenia-Georgia railway network towards the North and South Europe.

-Razi-Turkish border- Tabriz-Jolfa route by means of Azerbaijan-Armenia railway to Turkmenistan and the East Central Asia by means of way boat and railroads.

The railway of the Islamic Republic of Iran is equipped with cargo wagons as follows: 13 thousand and 340 wagons including special edged wagons for shipping minerals to terminals that are equipped with fixing apparatus and have wagons that are unloaded by cargo gravity force, with lower and side doors, and special tanker wagons for supplying oil products to consumers who have terminals an unloading facilities. There are commercial roofed and edged wagons for carrying various packed mercantile cargoes and various metal products in the form of rolls and plates and so on. The edged wagons are also used for carrying 20 and 40 feet-containers, and there are wagons for transporting grains that require special unloading terminals. In addition, special unsupported trains are employed and there are 310 locomotives in operation now.

In view of transit from ports to third-party countries, the docks that are linked with railway network at southern ports, are equipped with loading and unloading facilities. Along the transit corridor, too, most international stations are located alongside public and custom storages.

- When Bandar Abbas railway connects Bandar Abbas-Tehran transit corridor to Jolfa-Bandar Turkaman exit borders, and Sarakhs exit border in future, it will make great difference in shortening the period of transit transport compared to road transportation. More over, domestic transport traffic on pre-mentioned axes will cause problems as to transit transport period which will lead to loss of this market. However, by railway connection between Bafgh and Mashhad, as the most suitable transit route and commercial highway to the central Asia, this problem will be removed.

- Lack of railway terminal at Bandar Turkaman which requires necessary measures to be taken.

- Lack of facilities at Gorgan and Mashhad stations for compound road-railway transportation by way of Gorgan-pol border and Mashhad- Badjgiran-Lotfabad.

- Technical problems of railway construction works involved in ups and downs of the route.

Regarding the construction of connecting routes and elimination of the problems involved in transit transport, and in order to attract markets, it is suggested to take prompt actions to complete railway transit corridors and axes between the north - south, and north-east and south, before other routes are created in the region. In this view, transportation by means of Pakistan-Afghanistan routes from the south to the north towards the Central Asia, is already envisaged by others. On the other hand, compound sea -railway transport through the Caspian Sea and railway system of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Black sea, by means of the Caspian Sea ferries (Baku's and Turkmenistan's ports, also Turkey's Samson port and Romania's Constantine port) is under study by other countries. Therefore, in addition to the measures provided for in the government's programmes concerning the construction of railway from Bafgh to Mashhad and Sarakhs, it is suggested that prompt actions be taken as to planing a compound transport project by means of existing axes and by mobilizing stations at Bandar Turkaman, Gorgan and Mashhad.

At present, Iran is connected to the seven countries of Turkmenistan , Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey, through fifteen bordering roads as follows:

- Through Bazargan and Sarve border in the western Azerbaijan province to Turkey.

- Through Astara border in the province, Khoda Afarin and Jolfa at the eastern Azerbaijan province, and Pilehsavar in the Ardebil province to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

- Through Incheh borun border in the Mazandaran province, and Lotfabad, Badjgiran and Sarakhs in the Khorasan province to Turkmenistan.

- Through Dogharun border in the Khorasan province to Afghanistan.

- Through Nourdouz border in the eastern Azerbaijan province to Armenia.

- Through Mirjaveh border in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan to Pakistan.

- Through Khosravi border in the Kermanshah province to Iraq.

These borders are linked with one another by road connections and the above mentioned countries are thus linked with one another through transit roads of our country. There is also road connection between all the road borders and far-away places on the sea borders of the country. Hence all our neighboring countries are connected to the littoral states of the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Caspian sea through the transit roads of the country.

In respect of the country's road transport vehicles, it is worth mentioning that there are a total of 176 thousand trucks working in the country's public transport system, of which 76 thousand vehicles are below ten tones and 100 thousand are over ten tones; and of those involved in the transportation of import and export transit goods, 5,500 vehicles are working under the "Carnetier" convention and 2,500 are under the transit control, and the remaining vehicles operate in the country's nationwide transport system.

At present, there are 17 transport terminals that have been set up specially for the road vehicles across the country; in Esfahan, Khomeini shahr, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Imam, Bandar Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Yazd, Astara, Bandar Anzali, Tabriz, Semnan, Shiraz, Qazvin, Kerman, Kermanshah, Mashhad and Arak. Of these terminals, eleven are fully operational and five terminals, namely those of Shiraz, Qazvin, Kerman, Kermanshah and Arak are temporarily used and will become fully operational by the end of this year. Governments for the purpose of distinguishing their own international road - transport affairs, mainly to determine the rights of those concerned in transportation and of the vehicles of other governments in ones territory, and also to determine the rights of those concerned in transportation and those of their vehicle to be entitled to in foreign countries, tend to conclude road-transport agreements with other governments which may be in the form of either bilateral or multilateral contracts that are often signed mutually in order to facilitate the matter. The Islamic Republic of Iran, too, entered into singing agreements on road transportation with newly independent nations, namely the Agreement on road transportation between Iran and the countries of Tajikistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Georgia, and Ukraine, right after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

Iran had previously signed an agreement with Russia; An agreement with Byelorussia is now under investigation, and the signing of agreements with four other republic nations, namely Estonia, Lithuania, Moldavia, and Latvia is postponed until due time for lack of urgency.

The Islamic Republic of Iran over 2,700 kilometers offshore border in the North and South of the country is a most important or, perhaps, the most economic way for the central Asian countries, mainly those located on the east of the Caspian Sea, to have access to the international waters. Hence in order to provide the required facilities for the promotion of cargo transit, the Ports and Shipping Organization has made needful planning with a view to estimated volume of transit goods in the coming years, and has tended to ereate required capacities, mainly at ports in the north of the country, by renovation of the existing ports and construction of new ports. For fulfilment of such policies, the Amir Abadport, at 35 kilometers from the city of Neka, and the Fereydoon Kenar port are both under construction, and the construction of the Astara and Turkaman ports are under study. The Anzali and Noshahr ports are in the process of development and renovation, and their capacities will rise twice as much as their present capacities during the Second Economic, Social and cultural Development Plan.

It is worth mentioning that in consideration of ports development and mobilization plans, the ports in the south of the country maintain the required capacity for transit cargoes. The container's terminals at Shahid Rajayie and Imam ports, too, provide the needful capacity for transit containers which should normally convey the main part of transit goods. On the other hand, the country's shipping will be able to carry needful cargoes of the central Asia countries from faraway places in the world to the country's ports and vice versa so as to provide growth and prosperity for the country's marine transportation.

For the time being, the country's network of commercial ports which can be labeled as big trade ports and are well prepared for imports and export of goods. These consist of 7 major ports and 8 multi-purpose ones. The major ports are as follows: Bandar Imam, Bandar Bushehr, Bandar Shahid Rajayie, Bandar Shahid Beheshti at Chah Bahar, Bandar Anzali, and Bandar Noshahr. The multi-purpose ports which operate on the regional scales are: Bandar Abadan, Bandar Khorramshahr, Bandar Daylam, Bandar Ganaveh, Bandar Lengeh, Bandar Qeshm, Bandar Jask and Bandar Shahid Kalantari at Chah Bahar.

The country's Commercial ports, with their 90 berths at an approximate length of 15,760 meters, and transit storehouses with an area of 285,000 square meters in area, and landing sites with an area of 2,821,400 Square meters, are well prepared to admit vessels and transit cargoes. These ports are now ready to receive almost 2 million tones of transit cargoes; this capacity will increase up to 5 million tones by the end of the country's Second Economic, Social and cultural Development Plan.

Another transportation network which can play a great and effective role in development and promotion of transit, is the country's shipping vessels which have great capacity in the region and may well attract suppliers of transit goods. The potentials of the country's shipping vessels are as bellow:

The shipping company of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the company has over 73 vessels and an overall capacity of 201,630,508 Dwt and potentials for transport of transit goods from all over the world. This company has a wide network around the world which can play a significant role in attracting transit goods by way of Iran.

One of the shipping companies operating under the shipping company of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is the Iran and India shipping Company which is run by joint investment of Iran and India and undertakes sea transportation by means of ten vessels and a total capacity of 225,391 Dwt. Another subsidiary company is the Caspian Sea shipping company which mainly operates in the Caspian Sea region and between Iran and the central Asian countries. The Caspian Sea shipping has 5 vessels and a capacity of 160,314 Dwt. This company can play on effective role in attracting the transit goods of the central Asian countries. In addition, the cargo passenger shipping company of Valfajr 8 is engaged in carrying cargo and passenger in the region of the Persian Gulf and the Golf of Oman with 11 vessels and a loading capacity of 9,983 tones of cargoes and 2,200 passengers.

The National Iranian oil-shipping company which undertakes shipping of oil products and has a great potential for transport of unpacked liquid products on international scales, maintains 20 vessels with a capacity of 3,290,838 Dwt presently.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to the pre-mentioned shipping facilities has many licenced conventional vessels that work in the southern shores of the country and have a significant role in shipment of traditional and local goods to the southern countries in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The overall number of these traditional vessels (including cargo and sailing ships) registered at the country's ports are 4,638 vessels, of which 2,282 ships are used as trawlers and the remaining are used for shipping cargoes. The total registered capacity of the cargo ships are nearly 182,35 tones.

Considering the above points, the ports of Iran do not seem to have any particular problem with regards to the transit of goods. However, in so far as the plannings have provided for a remarkable growth in transit of goods, the following points are suggested to considered further:

-Setting up transit terminals and allocating proper store houses and landing sites for such cargoes.

- Allocating suitable workforce and sufficient equipment.

- Training of the personnel to promote handling of the affairs.

- Providing good motivations for the private sector.

As discussed before, our country is located halfway between the east and the west. Many air routes of the East and west thus pass through the country's airspace; so Iran has a special strategic position with respect to air transport, too. Air transit in Iran has two aspects which can be discussed as follows;

- Transit flights through the country's airspace-Many air routes between Europe and the South-East Asia, and most flights between the newly independent republic nations of central Asia and trans caucsia, and the Persian Gulf go through the airspace of Iran. The countries who have joined the multilateral air transit agreements give permission to one another's planes to pass through their airspace. These countries give permission to a certain number of planes, based on their landing capacity for each route. According to this agreement, the planes should pay a transit charge to the country whose airspace they traverse. Recently, this amount has remarkably increased in Iran and is considered as an effective source of income for the country's Airline Organization.

Air freight transit in Iran - Air freight transit may take place in three forms; air to air, air to ground, and air to sea.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Airline Company has cargo flights on two routes along Tehran-Frankfurt and Tehran-Amsterdam each week. This company also carry considerable freight to Europe, the Middle-East and Asia by its extensive international network. Further more, it can freight goods to far away places in the world based on it's contracts with other international companies. This company has flights from Tehran to the cities of Ashgabad, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Baku in the newly independent republic nations from one hand, and to the Persian Gulf and to most important cities in the west and to Tokyo and Kualalampour in the East, on the other. So it is worth noting that this company has proper network for transit of goods.

The Islamic Republic of Iran's Airline flies big 747 jet planes, whose cargo models have a capacity of nearly one hundred tones, on its European, Tokyo and Kualalampour flights, and small airbus planes in central Asia and the Persian Gulf flights. These passenger planes have little capacity for freight.

Air transit needs certain facilities, the major ones of which are proper flight networks and air port facilities. As mentioned before, the flight network of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Airline. Company is suitable for transit considering the various destinations it flies to, but the number of flights are limited. For instance, the company has weekly flights to the central Asia by means of small passenger planes which have little capacity for freight. The major difficulty in air transit is lack of proper airport facilities. There is no proper store house for transit goods in any of Iran's international airports. Recently, a certain site had been set up for this purpose at the Mehrabad airport which will meet current needs upon completion.

With the following measures taken air transit is expected to increase and enable the country's air fleet to utilize its additional capacities so as to earn more foreign currencies for the country in return:

- Providing needful facilities, including proper transit facilities at the country's air ports.

-Setting up more flights for transport of cargoes along the routes which have needful potentials.

Development of transport systems, including sea, air, ground (road and railway) systems, is a significant factor in accelerating transit of goods. Changes in technical grounds and the capacity of various transport vehicles which constantly occur with regard to the size of transactions and the condition of products and requirement of the consumption markets, have frequently brought basic changes in transport condition and have caused suppliers to expect coordination and urgency in shipment of their goods, with respect to prevailing market circumstances.

Making use of containers has assumed importance as much as of the sailing ships, to the extent that instead of multi-purpose ships which spend a lot of time in loading and unloading at ports, today, container ships are employed with higher speed and greater capacities namely ten times greater than previous cargo vessels. Therefore, instead of loading cargoes on to trucks at factories and taking them to ports and storehouses to be unloaded and shipped to the destination where the same procedures must be repeated once again. The cargoes are now loaded on to of containers and carried

along inland and on international transit routes to be unloaded from the container at the consumption market.

Cargo transportation routes from the western European states, the Scandinavian countries and Japan to Iran are suggested by the forwarder to the suppliers of goods. For instance, cargoes could be shipped by vessels from the western European states to the ports at the Baltic sea, the Black sea, the ports of Turkey or those of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

If a cargo is to be carried via the Baltic sea, the route should be continued by train. The cargo should then be transported via the city of Baku to the port of Anzali or to the port city of Noshahr by ship or through the city of Astara by Truck or via the Republics of Georgia and Armenia to the city of Jolfa by train.

In case a cargo is to be shipped through the Black sea to the Republic of Georgia's ports, the route should be continued to the city of Baku by train and then to the ports of Anzali and Noshahr by ship. However, it could also be transported to Azerbaijan's Astara by train and then to Iran's Astara by Truck, or through the Republic of Armenia to Iran's Jolfa by train.

Inside the Iranian territory, the continuation of transport routes varies depending on the entrance borders and the available trains and road facilities.

The process of transit will thus continue along these routes, and a combination of different transport means and the best transport routes is used with regard to the origin and destination of goods so as to provide for the transportation of goods in the least period of time and at the minimum cost.