A new car bridge over the Tejen River at the Sarakhs–Sarakhs checkpoint along Iran’s common border with Turkmenistan was inaugurated on June 8 with the presence of the Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami and Turkmenistan’s Minister of Construction and Architecture Rahim Gandymov, IRNA reports. The bridge is 96 meters long and 15.1 meters wide.
During the opening ceremony held in a video conference format, Eslami said that the bridge at the Iran-Turkmenistan would handle traffic for 1,000 trucks per day.
Eslami added the bridge would play a key role in boosting trade and economic relations between Iran and Turkmenistan. He also announced that Iran is ready to resume railway and truck transportation and transit at the common border of the two countries in the near future.
According to Iran Press/Iran news, the Minister of Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan Rahim Gandymov, for his part, said, “Great efforts have been made to make Central Asia a crossroads for trade and transportation.”
The official added that the development of railroads and roads strengthens relations between the two countries.
He concluded that the opening of the Sarakhs-Sarakhs car border bridge, built in accordance with international standards, is a new step in the development of relations between the two countries.
Iran's Ambassador to Turkmenistan Gholamabbas Arbab-Khales described newly-inaugurated bridge between the two countries in Sarakhs as the bridge of friendship, saying that it will help consolidate friendly relations between the two nations, according to IRNA.
Talking to IRNA during the bridge's inaugural ceremony, Gholamabbas Arbab-Khales added, "Turkmens are not only our neighbors but also our relatives and the bridge is the second joint border developmental project between the two countries that was built to promote transit and increase road transportation."
“After the eradication of coronavirus, we will see a great leap in all affairs of the country, one of which is development of cooperation with Turkmenistan in various fields, including transit and road transportation," he said.
The country's attitude towards Iran, and especially Khorasan Razavi province, is such that it can meet all its needs through the existing common border, and Iran has announced its full readiness to resume all-out relations with Turkmenistan, the ambassador said.
