Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi witnessed via video link on Wednesday the signing of an agreement to finance and build a railway line in Iran, to be part of plans to establish an international transport corridor linking the north and south.
The Rasht and Astara rail line is seen as an important link in the international corridor that aims to connect India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries by rail and sea.
Russia says the corridor could rival the Suez Canal as a major route for global trade.
Putin said the unique north-south transport route, of which the Rasht and Astara railway will become a part, will significantly diversify global transport flows.
He said the 162-kilometre railway along the Caspian coast would help connect Russian ports on the Baltic Sea with Iranian ports
bordering the Indian Ocean and the Gulf.
For his part, the Iranian president said that this agreement is undoubtedly an important and strategic step in the field of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Western sanctions on both Russia and Iran have prompted the two countries to strengthen their political and economic ties, and both countries say the sanctions are unjustified.
Since 1979, the West has imposed numerous sanctions on Iran, which has about a quarter of the Middle East's oil reserves, crippling its economy, and the West has imposed another set of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, imposing sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.