President Ahmadinejad talks to Turkmen counterpart on phone

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad discussed Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad project in a telephone conversation with Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov on Thursday. President Ahmadinejad said the full implementation of the project would be a source of development in the region. He referred to Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad project as a great and historic event. Meanwhile, the Turkmen president hoped that the project would be completed in a near future. The primary agreement on the construction of the rail link among Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was signed between presidents of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in April 2007 in the city of Turkmenbashi and its final agreement was signed in a summit meeting in Tehran in September of the same year by the three presidents. The total rail tracks stand at 1000 kilometers, of which 90 kilometers would be in Iran, 700 kilometers in Turkmenistan and 210 kilometers in Kazakhstan. The project was to be completed in 2011. The railroad facilitates transportation of goods from the Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf.