A freight train directly linking China to Afghanistan departed Nantong City in east China's Jiangsu Province on Thursday, marking the resumption of the freight train services between the two countries.
Initially established in 2016, the freight train links China's Nantong to Afghanistan's Hairatan through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, creating a direct route for trade.
The resumption of freight train services will bring important opportunities for both countries to deepen the convergence of interest and achieve win-win cooperation.
"The China-Afghanistan direct freight train showcases that China upholds good-neighborliness and friendship and is ready to help Afghanistan advance peace and reconstruction. It also shows that as a country adhering to opening up and development, China can provide solutions to international and regional hotspot issues," said Yue Xiaoyong, Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An employee from Afghanistan's embassy in China said that he hopes the rail route will deepen the bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries in the fields of trade and investment.
The resumption of freight train services can also help Chinese enterprises to expand overseas by creating a new transportation route for products from China to Central Asian countries.
"Goods transported by the China-Afghanistan direct freight train are sourced from provinces including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong in east and south China, which provides new logistics options for enterprises in these areas to venture overseas," said Yang Zhanchen, an official from Nantong Customs.
Direct freight train between China, Afghanistan resumes service
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.
Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.
The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.
Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.
The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.
Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest
