Western branch of North-South corridor through Azerbaijan, Iran operating normally -Russian Dep. PM

ASTANA. March 26 (Interfax) - The western branch of the North-South international transport corridor that runs from Russia through Azerbaijan and Iran is currently operating normally, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said.

"As for the western route, automobile shipments are running now. We're watching the statistics, they're normal, in principle. There was a two-day pause [...] but we're very grateful to the Azerbaijani side here, the issue was resolved quickly with the government of Azerbaijan. Our drivers were allowed to return to Russia through Azerbaijan's territory. And then the North-South was already opened and is operating as usual," Overchuk told reporters during a visit to Kazakhstan by a Russian delegation led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

"Now everything is normal. On the border everything is normal," he added, responding to a question about whether the situation in the Middle East is affecting the operation of the North-South transport corridor.

He also said that work on building the Rasht-Astara railway line in Iran was continuing as of the end of February. "Everything was normal at the end of February," Overchuk said.

Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin, commenting on the situation in Iran in mid-March, said Russia is not abandoning plans to implement the North-South international transport corridor project in this country and expects to continue work after the conflict in the Middle East ends.

Russia and Iran began survey work for the construction of the Rasht-Astara rail line, which will become part of the North-South corridor, last May.

Russia, Iran and India signed an agreement to create the North-South multimodal corridor in 2000 and 12 countries are now involved in the project. The corridor has three routes, two running along the western and eastern coasts of the Caspian Sea and the Trans-Caspian route across the sea.