Baku, Tehran Enhance Relations Through Preserving Historical Traditions & Values

(MENAFN- AzerNews)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

Iran has, for a long time, been one of the closest strategicallies for Azerbaijan among the South Caucasus states. One of thereasons for this is that both countries share large borders, bothon land and at sea.

In addition, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran hasalways been at a high index. So, if we look at last year'sindicator, we can see that Azerbaijan's exports to Iran amounted to14.31 million US dollars.

The main means of trade between Iran and Azerbaijan is carriedout by railway and highway. Earlier this year, in a statement tothe media, Director General of Iran's North RailwayAdministration-2, Gholam-Hossein Valadi, referring to the volume ofimports, exports and the transit of cargo at the Astara BorderTerminal, said that the exchange of goods between Iran andAzerbaijan recorded a 33% growth in the last nine months. Nearly498,000 tons of goods were exchanged at the Astara Border Terminal,according to official Iranian sources.

Further to Valadi's statement, 152,268 tons of non-oil productswere imported into Iran from Azerbaijan via rail in this period,showing about a 63% hike year-on-year.

Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Garabagh War and theliberation of Garabagh from the Armenian occupation have alreadycreated great prospects for the expansion of relations with Iranacross all borders. The presidents of Azerbaijan and Iranemphasised this in their discussions during the meetingyesterday.

It should be noted that on May 19, President of the Republic ofAzerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Islamic Republic ofIran Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi met at the state border of the IslamicRepublic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The high-levelmeeting between the parties was remembered as a symbol of sincerityand brotherhood. In addition, the parties expressed their views onthe construction of the“Khudafarin” dam, and it was discussed thatthe conditions that Azerbaijan has built there in the last 4 yearswill have a positive effect on both the opening of jobs and thefurther development of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

In addition, the heads of state voiced their opinion about thenewly built bridge in the direction of Agband, a project that willbecome the main transport-transit road connecting the regions.

President Ilham Aliyev called that bridge the next transportlink and, at the same time, the next symbol of friendship.

At present, one direction of the North-South Transport Corridoris being constructed from the direction of Agband.

The meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with thePresident of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi, onMay 19 was also remembered by important events. Thus, with theparticipation of the presidents, the commissioning ceremony of the"Khudafarin" hydroelectric complex built on the Araz river and theopening ceremony of the "Giz Galasi" hydroelectric complex wereheld.

Both hydroelectric complexes built on the border between theRepublic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the ArazRiver were built for the purposes of electricity generation andirrigation. The hydroelectric complex project was developed on thebasis of the agreement signed in October 1977 between the SovietUnion and Iran. Although the construction of hydroelectriccomplexes, the projects of which were revised in the early 1990s,was stopped as a result of the occupation of 20 percent ofAzerbaijan's territory by Armenia, construction works were carriedout only by the Islamic Republic of Iran in later periods.

In 2020, as a result of the Patriotic War, the lands ofAzerbaijan, including the area where the hydroelectric stationswere built, were freed from occupation. According to the Decree onsome issues related to the continuation of the construction andcommissioning of the "Khudaferin" and "Giz Galasy" hydroelectricstations and hydropower plants on the Araz River, "AzerEnergy" OJSCwas identified as a customer by the Republic of Azerbaijan in2021.

Works on the construction of water dams at the "Khudaferin" and"Gız Galası" hydroelectric complexes, which will serve to improvethe production of electricity and water supply of agriculturalfields by efficiently using the water resources of the Araz River,have been completed, and the works of filling water reservoirs havebegun. Currently, 503 million cubic metres of water are stored inthe "Khudafarin" reservoir and 42 million cubic metres of water inthe "Giz Galasi" reservoir, which is 40 and 85 percent of the totalcapacity.

The meeting between Azerbaijan and Iran also contributed to theelimination of the crisis in bilateral relations. Azerbaijanrecently decided to determine the location for reopening itsembassy in Tehran. Although the diplomatic tension between the twocountries started after the terrorist attack on the Azerbaijaniembassy in January 2023 and the killing of the embassy employeeswith guns, later, official Tehran arrested the criminal whocommitted the crime and sentenced him to death. Over the course ofa year, Iran repeatedly appealed to Baku to restore diplomaticrelations with Azerbaijan.

In addition, note that after the meeting between the presidentsof Azerbaijan and Iran, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, alongwith other ministers and official state representatives, had anaccident while leaving for Tabriz in his helicopter. According toofficial sources, it is reported that the president of Iran andother members of the delegation were killed as a result of theaccident. Besides, it was confirmed that the accident was due totechnical reasons and foggy weather conditions.

Immediately after the incident, the President of the Republic ofAzerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, sent an offer of support to the Iraniangovernment. In addition, President Ilham Aliyev expressed his deepcondolences to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran,Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, over the helicopter crash in Iran,expressing his condolences over the deaths of his Iraniancounterpart Raisi and other official representatives.

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