Transit of goods via Iran exceeds projection by 30%

TEHRAN,Jan.6(MNA) - More than 8.48 million tons of goods were transited through Iran in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012), which is 30 percent greater than the figure that had been projected in the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), Iranian Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Shahriyar Afandizadeh stated on Saturday. The volume of transited goods increased by 17.1 percent compared with the same period in the previous year, IRNA quoted him as saying. In December 2012, Afandizadeh said Iran is a major transit connection for goods traded between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates and between Turkey and Turkmenistan. Fuel, oil products, petrochemicals, construction materials, cotton, home appliances, vehicles, foodstuffs, and fertilizers are the most commonly transited consignments, he noted. Afandizadeh also said that more than 100 countries are currently transiting their goods via Iran.