TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Russia on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the completion of an international transport route linking South Asia to Northern Europe, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

In a meeting in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani and Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Transport Vitaly Savelyev exchanged views on the completion of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, the report said.

Larijani highlighted Iran's readiness to implement the project, adding that his country would remove existing executive and institutional obstacles in the near future and put into force the necessary agreements to legally and administratively consolidate the implementation of the project.

Savelyev, for his part, welcomed Iran's decisive approach, voicing Moscow's readiness to advance the project into its operational phase.

The two sides stressed that the INSTC was part of their countries' joint strategy to consolidate sustainable bilateral cooperation and construct independent regional connectivity routes.

In July 2023, Iran and Russia signed an executory contract for the construction of a railway inside Iran as part of the INSTC. The 162-km railway will connect the northern Iranian cities of Rasht and Astara upon completion. ■