SHANGHAI/DUBAI, (Reuters) – A freight train from China arrived in Tehran on Monday, Iranian and Chinese media reported, calling it a historical first that opens a new trade link between countries seeking to strengthen ties as Iran emerges from years of economic isolation.
The train, carrying 32 containers, arrived in Tehran after a 14-day, 10,399 kilometre (6,462 mile) journey from Yiwu city in east China, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported. The agency didn’t say what kind of goods were shipped on the train on a route that took it via countries like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
The train’s journey was 30 days shorter than the time usually taken by ships to sail from Shanghai to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Iran’s transport minister and railway chief, Mohsen Pour-Aqaei as saying.
