Interstate Coordination Council on International Transportation Routes was created in Tashkent on 5 January 2005.

Officials of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Uzbekistan signed corresponding regulation on Wednesday. The Council will direct its efforts to speed up creation of Trans-Afghan corridor.

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, President of Iran Mohammad Khatami and President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed the agreement on creation of the Trans-Afghan corridor in Tehran on 18 June 2003. The route will allow landlocked Uzbekistan, as well as other Central Asian nations, to access seaports of Iran and further Europe.

The corridor will be laid from Termez to Herat and Mazar-e Sharif to Iran. The new corridor is 1,000 km shorter than all existing transport routes and will let Central Asian states access Persian Gulf, Oman Sea and Europe via Turkey.

In line with the regulation, the Council shall be accountable to the governments of member states.

Cooperation within the framework of the Council shall be carried out on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual benefit of its members and shall not affect their rights and obligations arising from other bilateral and multilateral treaties to which they are signatories.

The Council is aimed to coordinate cooperation and interaction among the sides, take measures necessary for attracting international investors to develop international transportation routes, establish necessary conditions for cooperation and partnership among them.