Global Construction Review: Iran has finalised a �2.2bn deal with China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) to electrify a 926-km railway from Tehran to the northeastern city of Mashhad, a deputy minister of roads and urban development said.

Two-thirds of the contract are financed by the Chinese government with a very low interest rate, with the remaining third covered by Chinese insurer Sinosure, Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan, who oversees Iranian firms� talks with international businesses, told The Financial Tribune.

�Issues regarding the government guarantees were resolved during Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia�s recent visit to China,� he added.

Tayyebnia attended the One Belt, One Road summit in Beijing earlier this month.

�Only drafting and other paperwork remains,� Fakhrieh-Kashan said, announcing that CMC representatives will be in Iran in June to sign the contract.

�This is an important project that raises the operational speed of the line to 200 km/hour, meaning passengers can travel from Tehran to Mashhad in about four and a half hours.�

In 2014, CMC constructed the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railroad, together with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited and Turkish companies.

Iran�s MAPNA Group is �the main domestic subcontractor�, Fakhrieh-Kashan said.

The Iranian holding signed a preliminary deal in October 2016 with Germany�s Siemens for the joint manufacture of 70 electric locomotives to be used in Tehran-Mashhad route.

Among other major railroad projects Iran is carrying out with the help of international companies, Fakhrieh-Kashan referred to a high-speed line from Tehran to Qom and Isfahan, for which Iran has already signed a contract with China Railway Group Limited known as CREC.

Image: Aerial view of Mashhad, Iran (Nima Najafzadeh/Creative Commons)