Press TV - Iranian authorities set up mechanisms to speed up clearing customs in a major dry port located near Tehran.

Heads of Iran�s customs office (IRICA) and the national railways authority (RAI) signed an agreement on Monday to make it easier and faster for cargoes coming from seaports to get customs clearance at Aprin, a dry port located 20 kilometers to the southwest of the capital in Islamshahr county.

The deal is expected to frequent Aprin, a large inland facility at the juncture of Iran�s cross-country rail routes where construction of customs offices and freight terminals began two years ago through government and foreign investment.

Signing the agreement, authorities vowed to cooperate on an extensive level to accommodate container freight transported through the rails from seaports south and north of the country.

Experts believe Aprin will be mostly frequented by cargoes coming from the Shahid Rajayi Port, Iran�s main port for goods located on the Persian Gulf.

The government hopes Aprin could become a model for other dry ports near major metropolitan areas in Iran, including in Mashahd and Zahedan in east and Tabriz in northwest.

Building out port and customs facilities across Iran come as the country has seen a surge in port activity despite a series of American sanctions that seek to choke off the country�s trade with the rest of the world.

Recent figures provided by the customs authorities showed foreign trade over the past calendar year ending late March topped $85 billion as the overall weight of shipments exported from Iran and imported into the country exceeded 170 million metric tons.