Bazrpash and Levitin met in Tehran after almost three months in order to monitor the implementation of the Rasht-Astara Railway project and promotion of transit along the INSTC.

According to The Iran Project, Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mehrdad Bazrpash, hosted Igor Levitin, the aide to the President of the Russian Federation and Chairman of Russian State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutskiy, in order to monitor the latest status of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), multilateral transport agreements, and the implementation process of the Rasht-Astara Railway project. 

The two sides highlighted the development of transit and the increase in the volume of transit through Iran. 

Also, the completion of the INSTC by construction of the 164 kmRasht-Astara Railway project was discussed. 

In this meeting, the two sides emphasized on improving bilateral cooperation and implementing multilateral transport agreements to increase transit along the INSTC.

They also called for collaboration in railway development between Iran and Russia to increase freight transport between the two countries. 

In February, Bazrpash hosted Igor Levitin and his delegation in Tehran to discuss the promotion of transit along the INSTC and the acceleration of the Rasht-Astara Railway Project.