According to the Director General of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR) Saeed Rasouli, Iran was previously an observer member of the Council for Rail Transport of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but its status has transformed into a permanent member after it applied for a permanent membership during the council’s 70th meeting held in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on May 14-15.
Rasouli said that Iran’s application was agreed upon in principle in the meeting in the Helsinki meeting back in May.
He added that his organization pursued the legal work of the permanent and finally Iran has now become a permanent member after settling the required dues to some of the member states of the council.
The IRIR director general went on to say that from now on, Iran will have the right to vote in the CIS council and will enjoy every right as the other members do.
Rasouli further noted that the permanent membership will help Iran with its rail transit as well as its imports and exports.
He also pointed out that Turkey and Mongolia also applied for permanent membership in the Helsinki meeting, whose applications are still being investigated.
"Turkmenistan, Armenia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Belarus are members of the council," he said, adding that Russia is no chairing the CIS council.
KI/FNA13980727000361
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