A China-Europe freight train on Friday departed China's northwestern city of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, starting its journey crossing the Caspian Sea and the Black sea, marking the country's latest effort to strengthen cooperation and connection with central Asian and European countries.
Starting from the Xi'an International Port and carrying goods like books, excavators, and solar photovoltaic products, the freight train will travel over 10,000 kilometers, passing through countries including Kazakhstan, Slovakia, and Czech Republic before reaching the German city of Mannheim.
The train marks the latest effort of Xi'an to launch more cross-Caspian freight trains. Over the pass two years, the city has operated 150 freight trains, transporting 137,000 tonnes of goods.
Last year, China announced it will participate in the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor as part of the country's effort to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor starts from China, runs through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to Türkiye and European countries.
The corridor stands for a prime example of the practical cooperation between China and the Central Asian countries. It also helps to enhance the reliability of the trade between China and Europe, cut the transport time by half, and effectively lower the logistics costs.
By 2030, the annual cargo throughput of the corridor will reach 10 million to 11 million tonnes, according to a World Bank forecast.
Xi'an launches new China-Europe freight train on trans-Caspian route
Xi'an launches new China-Europe freight train on trans-Caspian route
The U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran since February 28 have inflicted irreparable damage on the country's priceless cultural heritage sites, according to Hassan Fartousi, secretary-general of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Fartousi said that 132 cultural heritage items have been attacked in recent strikes, emphasizing that the losses extend far beyond monetary valuation.
"Last night, I was told that 132 pieces [items] of our cultural heritage have been attacked, and it is really impossible to say how much the costs are, and it can be said that these (damaged cultural heritage items) are priceless and irreparable. How can these be defined?" Fartousi said.
Among the most severely affected sites is the Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2013.
Fartousi said that about 40 percent of the palace's historic mirror works, dating back nearly 220 years to the Qajar period, have been damaged.
"Unfortunately, in Golestan Palace, there are almost 40 percent of the mirror works [that] have been damaged which belong to almost 220 years ago, the Qajar period. The same situation [occurred] in the Saad Abad complex [in] which the Green Palace [was] attacked in a way which the specialists were telling me very sadly that it may not be possible to repair some of the damages," he said.
The Golestan Palace complex, selected as the royal residence and seat of power by the Qajar ruling family in the 19th century, has been described by UNESCO as "a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences."
The Saad Abad complex, a sprawling former royal compound in northern Tehran, encompasses an extensive park with multiple buildings now serving as museums dedicated to Iran's cultural history. The official residence of Iran's president is located adjacent to the site.
U.S.-Israeli airstrikes cause irreparable damage to Iran's cultural heritage sites: UNESCO official
