TEHRAN – All four border crossings between Iran and Turkmenistan are currently open and active with some restrictions, according to the director-general of Transit and International Transportation Affairs Bureau of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (RMTO).

“At present, the four land border crossings between Iran and Turkmenistan have been reopened with some restrictions, and we hope that the trade problems with this country will be resolved soon,” Javad Hedayati told ISNA on Sunday.

Following an online meeting between RMTO and the Turkmen International Transport Agency in September, recently, the third border crossing between the two countries on the Incheh Borun border in Golestan province was reopened, the official said.

Iran and Turkmenistan have four common border crossings, namely Sarakhs, Lotfabad, and Bajgiran crossings in Khorasan Razavi Province as well as Incheh Borun border crossing in Golestan Province.

During the outbreak of the coronavirus, Turkmenistan had closed all land and air borders with its neighbors, and consequently, its borders with Iran were also closed.

In August 2020, Iran’s former Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami held talks with Turkmenistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Rasit Meredow via video conference to discuss the situation of road and rail transportation on the common borders between the two countries.

In that meeting, the two sides stressed the need for taking urgent measures to lift transit restrictions between the two countries, and expand regional cooperation, and develop strategic, economic, and trade collaboration, especially during the pandemic.

Following the mentioned meeting two of the border crossings between the two countries (Sarakhs, Lotfabad) were re-opened, Hedayati said.

The fourth common border namely Bajgiran is only open for the commute of diplomats, he added.

Back in June 2020, Iran had also opened a key bridge connecting cities on the two sides of the Sarakhs border with Turkmenistan amid efforts to expand trade with countries in the Central Asia region.

Sarakhs Border Bridge was officially inaugurated in the presence of Iran’s minister of transport and urban development, the minister of construction and architecture of Turkmenistan, and the ambassadors of the two countries.

EF/MA