TEHRAN, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Iran has officially joined Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia to improve its links with international transit markets.
The Mehr News Agency reported Sunday that Iran's request to join the institution was accepted during TRACECA's Sept. 23 meeting in Brussels.
TRACECA, established in 1998, is an international transport program whose members include both the European Union and 14 Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian states and is entirely financed by member nations.
Iran's successful bid to join TRACECA is another success for Iran in its efforts to mitigate the effect of U.S. sanctions, in place since 1996 and renewed annually. The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act threatens possible U.S. economic retribution against any country or nation investing more than $20 million in Iran's hydrocarbon infrastructure. After abandoning its covert nuclear weapons program, Libya has been dropped from the legislation.
TRACECA's five working groups deal with maritime transport, aviation, road and rail, transport security, and transport infrastructure.
