China will electrify the 1,000-kilometre Sarakhs–Razi railway, transforming an east-west spine that links Turkmenistan to Türkiye through Iran. The railway begins at the border between Iran and Turkmenistan, running all the way to the Turkish border.

The project’s scale and timing underline Beijing’s preference for an Iranian land bridge over Azerbaijan’s still-contested Zangezur corridor. With the construction of the China-Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan railway, Beijing will have two land routes to Iran, via Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

CHINA AND RUSSIA ARE READY TO SUPPORT IRAN FOR GOODS TRANSIT DESPITE THREATS OF STRIKES AGAINST TEHRAN

By committing to triple the line’s freight capacity, from 5 million to 15 million t per year, China is binding its Belt and Road Initiative to Iran’s geography and to Moscow’s security umbrella. The July 2025 electrification contract, championed by China State Railway Group chairman Guo Zhuxue, rests on the 25-year Sino-Iranian cooperation plan that earmarks US $120 billion for transport upgrades.

Tehran, for its part, has showcased new Russian S-400 air-defence batteries, signalling that any attempt to disrupt the corridor, whether through Israeli precision strikes or wider regional escalation, can meet layered deterrence.

For Beijing, the calculus is strategic redundancy. The Zangezur corridor remains hostage to diplomatic tug-of-conflict among Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran; supportive quotes from Chinese envoys in Baku were hastily retracted in April 2025.

Iran, in contrast, actively courts Chinese and Russian capital and frames the rail build-out as a shield against sanctions-induced isolation. A May 2025 meeting in Tehran with senior railway officials from China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Türkiye mapped interoperability standards and customs harmonisation.

BEIJING IS SEEKING ROUTES TO IMPORT OIL FROM IRAN BY LAND ROUTES

Secure overland energy flows sit at the heart of China’s decision. The Sarakhs–Razi corridor plugs directly into Iran’s east-west rail, enabling crude and petrochemicals loaded near the Persian Gulf to reach Central Asia and western China without passing through the U.S-patrolled Strait of Malacca. Overland transit cuts delivery times to roughly 15 days, halves freight insurance costs and insulates volumes from maritime chokepoints or naval embargo scenarios.

The economics are equally compelling: under the 2021 strategic pact, China will invest US $280 billion in Iran’s hydrocarbon sector, locking in discounted supply for decades. Rail electrification amplifies those discounts by slashing haulage expenses and limiting exposure to tanker-tracking sanctions.

Combined with Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan links already feeding China’s Xinjiang hub, the Iranian route can offer a contiguous oil conduit from Gulf to Chinese refineries.

Source of maps: Ministry of Roads & Urban Development of Iran 2014