Shafaq News/ Iraq and Turkey pledged on Sunday to accelerate the construction of the ambitious "Development Road", a rail and highway link that would connect the Grand Faw Port in Basra to the southern Turkish border.

The agreement materialized during a Turkish delegation's visit to Iraq's southern Basra province, where discussions focused on finalizing technical aspects of the project and assessing progress on the Grand Faw Port project, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Transport.

The Turkish delegation included senior officials from the Ministry of Communications and Infrastructure, joined by representatives from the project's Italian consulting firm.

"Farhan al-Fartousi, Director General of Iraqi Ports, and Younis Al-Kaabi, Director General of Railways, met with the Turkish delegation for talks on the technical aspects of the project," the statement said. "Both parties agreed to convene monthly meetings to help accelerate the construction process."

"The Turkish delegation also toured the immersed tunnel and expressway project linking the Grand Faw Port to the Development Road and commended the impressive progress," it added.

This visit follows Iraqi Minister of Transport Razak Mahdi's recent trip to Ankara, where he and his Turkish counterparts reached an agreement on various technical aspects of the Development Road.