Baku and Tehran agree on projects aimed to connect Iran with Russia through Azerbaijan

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s two-day visit to Azerbaijan proved to be fruitful. A total of eight interstate agreements were signed, a railway and a car manufacturing factory were opened as part of the visit. Most importantly, the parties agreed on a number of projects as part of the North-South transport corridor, linking Iran with Russia via the territory of Azerbaijan.

The following agreements were signed during the visit:

• The Program of Cooperation Between the Committees for Family, Women and Child Affairs;
• The Executive Plan on Cooperation Between the Ministries of Youth and Sports Affairs;
• The Culture and Arts Exchange Program;
• The Action Plan on Cooperation in the Healthcare Sphere;
• The Memorandum of Understanding on the Joint Development of Energy Blocks in the Caspian Sea
• The Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation in the Industry Sphere;
• The Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Sphere of Economy and Finances;
• The Agreement on Financing the Construction of the Astara-Rasht Railway Section in the Territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Columnists regard the last as particularly important. The project’s budget totals USD 500 million. The first test train set off on its Astara (Azerbaijan) to Rasht (Iran) journey in February 2018, thus laying the foundation for the North-South transport corridor from Russia to Iran via the territory of Azerbaijan.

During his Baku trip, President Rouhani also participated in the inaugural ceremony of a joint Azerbaijani-Iranian car manufacturing factory.

“Jointly founded by the Iranian Khodro and Azeurocar companies, the factory is expected to manufacture Dena, Rana, Soren and Samand car brands, аs well as a number of Peugeot models. The project is estimated to cost USD 25 milion. The factory is expected to produce about 10 000 vehicles per year. The plan is to export the cars to the CIS countries,” reads the moscow-baku.ru website.

The Iranian President hailed the high level of cooperation between the two countries:

“We always stand by Azerbaijan. If Iran is safe, Azerbaijan will be safe too. Likewise, if there is development in Azerbaijan, there will be development in Iran as well,” said Rouhani.