Oman to join Chabahar Agreement during Raisi visit
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Iran and Oman will be working closer to enhance their bilateral ties in commerce during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the Gulf State.
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President Ebrahim Raisi with the Secretary-General of the Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the special envoy of Oman's Sultan on August 4, 2021 (Archive)
Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Ghasemi headed to Oman on Sunday, presiding a delegation set to meet and negotiate transportation relations with his Omani counterpart.
The officials will also discuss strengthening maritime transport between Bandar Abbas Port in Iran and the Port of Al Suwaiq in Oman, in addition to establishing a passenger ship between Chabahar and Muscat.
The accord is a trilateral agreement over the Indian Chabahar port signed by India, Iran, and Afghanistan, in a step toward boosting regional connectivity in South and Central Asia.
"During the upcoming visit of Iranian President [Ebrahim Raisi] and Iranian Minister of Transport [Ghasemi] to Muscat, Oman is expected to join the trilateral Chabahar Agreement," a statement by the Iranian Ministry of Transport and Urban Development said.
The statement further quotes informed sources as reporting that Oman signed a Memorandum of Understanding for multimodal sea and road transport. The sources also said the MoU also included Oman joining the trilateral Chabahar Agreement inked between Tehran, New Delhi, and Kabul.
Facilitating the traffic of the Iranian shipping lines in the Omani ports of Salalah and Sohar is among the other topics on the agendas of the talks between Iranian and Omani officials.
In the sky, the two sides are expected to agree on scheduled flights rather than charter flights, in addition to diversifying Iran's aircraft fleets along the Omani route and launching Ramsar-Muscat flights.
Iran and Oman signed in February an MoU during the 19th meeting of the Joint Economic Committee in order to promote stronger economic ties and maritime trade through the Chahabar port, the ministry's statement added.
Statistics published by the Iran-Oman Joint Chamber of Commerce two months later showed that the volume of trade between Iran and Oman in the year 1400 in the Iranian calendar (March 21, 2021-2022) increased by 53% year-on-year.
The chairman of the Iran-Oman Joint Chamber of Commerce, Mohsen Zarrabi, said Iran's exports to Oman were $438 million in 1999, and they surged to $716 million in 1400.
