Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
January 26, 2007 Friday 9:05 PM MSK
Armenia, Iran thinking of laying railway
Armenia and Iran are deliberating a proposal to lay a railway line to
connect the two countries, an Armenian minister said on Friday.
Iran will have much more interest in the proposal if traffic resumes
along the railway line that crosses Georgia’s breakaway region of
Abkhazia. This would give Iran a rail link to Russia if the Iran-
Armenia line proposal materializes, Andranik Manukian, Armenia’s
transportation and communications minister, told reporters.
The new line would also provide Armenia with its second rail link to
the outside world, he said. Today Armenia has only one international
railway – a line which runs to neighboring Georgia.
Manukian said Armenia was currently looking for sources of funding
the project, the value of which he put at $1 billion.