MNA � A deputy minister of Roads and Urban Development, Amir Amini, said Sat. that Iran�s railway network will be connected to the Eastern Mediterranean states.

Negotiations have been held with the neighboring Iraq and Syria for connecting Iran�s railway network to the Eastern Mediterranean countries, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development for Planning and Resources Management Affairs told reporters in Damascus on Saturday.

Connection of Iran�s railway network to Iraq and then to Syrian ports in the Mediterranean Sea will reduce dependency and restriction of road trade, and facilitate exchange of religious tourism between the three countries, he emphasized.

Establishing a railway link between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Iraq�s Basra to Abu Kamal and from there to Deir ez-Zor Governorate in Syria is one of the major projects approved in the Asia-Pacific Economic Development Organization (APEC), Amini added.

If railway networks are connected between the three countries, another major step will be taken for connecting China�s railway network to the Mediterranean Sea through Iran, Iraq and Syria, he said, adding that some planning has been made in this regard.

He went on to say that Islamic Republic of Iran seeks to strengthen its southern and northern ports by constructing a railway network.

Amini is in Damascus as head of an economic delegation that took part in an expert-level session on Monday with their Syrian counterparts. The Syrian side was headed by the country's minister of economy.

Following the session, a long-term strategic economic agreement was drawn up between Iran and Syria which will be inked by the senior officials of the two countries in the near future.