The signing ceremony was held in Dushanbe and was attended by Tajik officials, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Deputy Minister of Planning and Supervision of the Iran Water & Power Resources Development Company Behrouz Moradi, the CEO of an Iranian company, and other Iranian and local guests.
Addressing the event, the Minister of Transport of the Republic of Tajikistan Azim Ibrahim called Tajikistan and Iran two friend countries with commonalities in language, culture, and history.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has been involved in the implementation of many infrastructure projects in Tajikistan including Sangtuda 2 Hydroelectric Power Plant and 'Istiqlol tunnel," he said, "Fortunately, today is the opportunity to start the second phase of the Istiqlol Tunnel project, and we hope that its completion would be a valuable gift to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Tajikistan's independence."
He further explained that due to the signed agreement, lighting, ventilation, firefighting, installation of surveillance cameras, etc. of the tunnel are taken into account.
Moradi, for his part, expressed content having the agreement signed after inking an MoU on January 2, 2020, between the Water and Power Resources Development Company of Iran (on behalf of the Ministry of Energy of Iran) and the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
"We are witnessing the finalization of a cooperation agreement for the implementation of the second phase of the Istiqlol tunnel project between an Iranian company and the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan under the pandemic and thanks to the mutual efforts," he added.
He hoped that the project would strengthen mutual cooperation between the two sides.
The Istiqlol tunnel is a 5,040 m long tunnel located 80 km northwest of Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, at an elevation of 2,720 m.
The tunnel is part of the M34 highway and connects the Tajik capital to the country's second-largest city, Khujand.
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