Financial Tribune- German finance worth €3 billion ($3.5 billion) for a railroad project in Iran will soon be finalized, a deputy roads and urban development minister announced.

"We are on the verge of finalizing a €3 billion foreign finance deal with a German company with €1.7 billion ($2 billion) of the funds related to projects belonging to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development," Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan also told ILNA.

Iranian officials have been holding negotiations with Germany for a foreign finance deal in recent months, but have yet to divulge any details.

According to Fakhrieh-Kashan, a German delegation will soon travel to Iran to finalize the finance deal.

"The funds will be used to electrify the Tehran-Isfahan railroad, purchase seven electric locomotives and transport the purchased goods," he said.

"There have also been talks for more than a year about a $10 billion foreign finance deal with Japan."

The deputy minister noted that the Japanese have shown interest in a $9 billion Iranian project to build two railroads that connect the northeastern and northwestern points of Tehran to its southwestern and southeastern points respectively.

"The project, which is predicted to be completed in seven years, will provide an underground exit for Tehran that will solve its traffic problem for good," he said.

According to Fakhrieh-Kashan, the share of Roads Ministry from the total of $55 billion worth of foreign finance approved in the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22) will be about $12 billion.