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New Railway to Link Iranian, Syrian Coasts

Port of Latakia, Asharq Al-Awsat
Port of Latakia, Asharq Al-Awsat
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New Railway to Link Iranian, Syrian Coasts

Port of Latakia, Asharq Al-Awsat
Port of Latakia, Asharq Al-Awsat

A report by the Syrian ministry of transport revealed a bid on connecting Iranian and Syrian coasts as well as the Iranian town of Shalamcheh to Iraq’s Basra by a railway system that stretches from the Port of Imam Khomeini to the Port of Latakia.

Iran’s national state-owned railway system announced in April a project linking the cities of Shalamcheh and Basra via a 32-kilometer railway project financed and implemented by the Iranians.

Iran seeks to bolster its presence in Syria through scoring many vital economic agreements which will help it in dodging US sanctions.

It recently obtained the right to manage Syria’s port of Latakia after signing an agreement with President Bashar al-Assad during his visit to Tehran last February. Iran will use the Syrian port as an alternative route for shipping.

All this coincides with accelerating the implementation of the railway project linking Iran to Syria through Iraq. While the terms of the Iranian agreement to manage the port of Latakia were unclear, Moscow was quick to take control of the port of Tartus through a 49-year lease.

More on Syria-Iran deals, state news agency IRNA said a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries’ electricity ministers in Tehran covered the construction of power plants, transmission lines, cutting losses in Syria’s electricity network, and the possibility of connecting the two countries’ grids through Iraq.

Iran, which has estimated expenditures in Syria at $6 billion yearly since 2012, has won economic contracts in Syria in agriculture, oil, industry, livestock and ports.

Its exports to Syria increased after a tax exemption. Tehran also signed an agreement to develop phosphate mines in Syria and is looking to enter the telecommunications sector as a third mobile operator.

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World

Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Dies Aged 97

China's Prime Minister Rongji Zhu (L) answers questions during a joint press conference with US President Bill Clinton at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on April 8, 1999.(Photo by JOYCE NALTCHAYAN / AFP)
China's Prime Minister Rongji Zhu (L) answers questions during a joint press conference with US President Bill Clinton at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on April 8, 1999.(Photo by JOYCE NALTCHAYAN / AFP)
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Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Dies Aged 97

China's Prime Minister Rongji Zhu (L) answers questions during a joint press conference with US President Bill Clinton at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on April 8, 1999.(Photo by JOYCE NALTCHAYAN / AFP)
China's Prime Minister Rongji Zhu (L) answers questions during a joint press conference with US President Bill Clinton at the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on April 8, 1999.(Photo by JOYCE NALTCHAYAN / AFP)

Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, whose market reforms helped drive the country's extraordinary economic rise, died Wednesday at the age of 97.

Zhu became premier in 1998 and swiftly lived up to his reputation as a hard-hitting free marketeer.

Among his best-known reforms were a broad program to privatize unprofitable state-owned enterprises, the privatization of urban housing and the promotion of home ownership.

He passed away from illness in Beijing late Wednesday morning "after medical treatment failed to save him", state news agency Xinhua said.

"The life of comrade Zhu Rongji was a life of revolution, a life of struggle, a life of glory," an obituary jointly issued by China's top political bodies said, according to Xinhua.

"It was a life dedicated wholeheartedly to serving the people, one given to the communist cause. His passing is a major loss for the Party and the country."

Reforms under Zhu sparked a boom in real estate and construction, which would soar to become a quarter of China's economy before a crippling debt crisis struck in 2020.

His leadership was credited with helping China avoid the worst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bucking a global trend.

And he led negotiations for China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 -- a move seen as consolidating the country's transformation from an isolated economy under Mao Zedong to the marketplace of the world.

- 'Outstanding leader' -

Zhu was "an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a long-tested and loyal communist fighter... (and) an outstanding leader of the Party and the state", his obituary said.

But Zhu's brand of market reformism, which lifted millions out of poverty but unleashed inequality, fell out of vogue with the ascent of Xi Jinping in 2012.

Xi has condemned runaway capitalism and sought to move China onto a more balanced development path, as well as cracking down on excessive displays of wealth and private firms seen as monopolistic.

"We must turn our grief into strength, learn from (Zhu's) revolutionary spirit, noble character and fine conduct, and rally even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core," Zhu's obituary read.

The news of his death quickly shot to top trending on social media platform Weibo, with the topic gaining more than 190 million views just hours after it was announced.

"The people's good premier, go in peace," read one comment under the news on Weibo with more than 17,000 likes.

Others left candle emojis in remembrance.

World

Putin Threatens Retaliatory Seizures of European Ships

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting aboard the Guards missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet's exercises off the coast of Sakhalin region, Russia, 12 August 2026. (EPA/Gavriil Grigorov Kremlin / Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting aboard the Guards missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet's exercises off the coast of Sakhalin region, Russia, 12 August 2026. (EPA/Gavriil Grigorov Kremlin / Pool)
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Putin Threatens Retaliatory Seizures of European Ships

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting aboard the Guards missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet's exercises off the coast of Sakhalin region, Russia, 12 August 2026. (EPA/Gavriil Grigorov Kremlin / Pool)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting aboard the Guards missile cruiser Varyag during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet's exercises off the coast of Sakhalin region, Russia, 12 August 2026. (EPA/Gavriil Grigorov Kremlin / Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday threatened to seize ships belonging to European countries in retaliation for plans to sell off cargo seized from Russian "shadow fleet" vessels.

Several European companies have intercepted ships carrying Russian oil in contravention of European sanctions targeting the vital revenue source.

New sanctions passed last month permit EU members to sell the oil or any other cargo seized from the ships.

Moscow has bristled at the moves, with Putin calling it "piracy and banditry".

"We will be forced to respond in kind," the Kremlin chief said while overseeing naval drills in Russia's Far East.

Moscow would act "wherever we ourselves deem necessary and appropriate -- anywhere," he added.

Swedish court documents obtained by AFP earlier in August showed Stockholm will transfer to Kyiv a seized Russian ship suspected of transporting grain from occupied Ukraine.

Putin was speaking aboard the Russian cruiser Varyag off the island of Sakhalin, where Russia's navy was conducting drills.

The exercises come a week before joint US-South Korean war games, designed to simulate a possible invasion from North Korea.

Tensions are high in the region amid accusations from Kyiv and Seoul that Pyongyang and Moscow are further intensifying their military cooperation.

World

Pakistan Interior Minister in Iran to Discuss Regional Security

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Office shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on August 11, 2026. (Iran Foreign Ministry / AFP)
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Office shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on August 11, 2026. (Iran Foreign Ministry / AFP)
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Pakistan Interior Minister in Iran to Discuss Regional Security

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Office shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on August 11, 2026. (Iran Foreign Ministry / AFP)
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Office shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meeting with Pakistan's Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on August 11, 2026. (Iran Foreign Ministry / AFP)

Pakistan's interior minister is visiting Iran to discuss regional security, stability and other developments, the Pakistani foreign office said Wednesday, as Islamabad tries to mediate a resolution to the Middle East war.

Mohsin Naqvi, previously involved in mediation efforts between Iran and the US, is known to be close to the powerful head of the Pakistani army, Asim Munir.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported late Tuesday that Naqvi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.

"He is discussing bilateral relations, security, regional security and stability, and constructive engagement amongst the parties in the region and regional developments," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad.

The Iranian government's website said Naqvi conveyed to Pezeshkian "a message from the Pakistani prime minister and the chief of the army", without specifying its content.

Tehran insists on retaining control of the Strait of Hormuz after the war and wants to charge fees for passage, repeatedly striking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route. The US has imposed a rival blockade on Iranian ports.

Attacks in the waterway, which was free to transit before the war, led to the collapse of an April ceasefire, and mediators have urged both sides to return to the terms of a subsequent June memorandum that set out a path for peace talks.

Last week Iran said it had agreed a route with neighboring Oman for ships transiting the strait and was finalizing arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway.

On Tuesday the US military announced that it had fired on a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran's ports.