Economic activity in Iranian ports ongoing constantly: PMO head

Head of Iran Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has underlined economic activity in ports as a major indicator of the Iranian economy’s dynamism, saying economic activity in the country’s ports has been constantly ongoing.

Activities in Iranian ports do not stop even for a moment,” IRIB quoted Mohammad Rastad as saying.

“We have a lot of capabilities in the country's maritime sector and the world is also closely watching the Islamic Republic of Iran’s capacities in this sector while monitoring the activities that are being carried out,” the official said.

Rastad noted that Iran's maritime transport fleet is one of the largest fleets in the world and the country's ports have a capacity of about 250 million tons per year.

“The International Maritime Organization (IMO) considers the Islamic Republic of Iran as an influential country in the maritime sector,” he stressed.

Pointing out that there is a positive atmosphere in the maritime sector to introduce the country's capacities more than before, the deputy transport minister said: “The country's ports are operating around the clock; for example, basic goods are being unloaded and loaded at Imam Khomeini Port every day, and in Shahid Rajaei Port, the activities do not stop even for a moment.”

Rastad further said that the country's ports have sisterhood agreements with more than 40 ports in the world, adding: “We are also negotiating with several other ports,”

In late June, Rastad had called for close coordination and collaboration among the country’s maritime organizations for defeating U.S. sanctions on this sector.

According to the official, some 52.5 million tons of non-oil commodities were exported from Iranian ports in the previous Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19).

In late March, Rastad announced that PMO is going to pay 36 trillion rials (about $857 million) for supplying marine fleet during the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 20).

source: TehranTimes