Expansion of regional transit routes is the main task of Iranian economic diplomacy, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said, IRNA news agency reported.

Safari said this during his speech at the ministerial transport conference of landlocked developing countries. The conference was held in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat.

The Iranian diplomat focused on Iran's effective presence in regional transit corridors and said the corridor is not just a transportation tool, but rather a tool to expand trade and promote national, regional and global economies.

Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Rostam Qassemi was another Iranian official who spoke at the conference in Ashgabat. He expressed his hope that the conference would help achieve the goals of landlocked developing countries.

The minister stressed that Iran's economic diplomacy is aimed at further deepening relations with developing and neighboring countries. Qasemi noted that many regional and international transit corridors use Iran's transit routes.

The minister added that Iran's sea routes in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, the Indian Ocean and the Caspian Sea play a key role in the transit of goods both from and to landlocked countries in the region.

He said Iran's approach to regional and international transit cooperation is to avoid any rivalry.

According to the minister, eight of the world's 32 landlocked developing countries Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, have close bilateral and multilateral transit cooperation with Iran. The politician added that Iran has fulfilled part of the international community's obligations to reduce the vulnerability of landlocked countries by helping reduce their trade costs and facilitating their access to world markets.