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Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Ali Alizada met with Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture of Iran, Gholam Hossein Shafe'i, on June 26, Azernews reports per the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran.

Under the embassy report, Alizada said that Azerbaijan is interested in developing trade, and economic relations with Iran, and emphasized productive cooperation between the two countries in transport, transit, energy, agriculture, and other areas.

Alizada noted that Azerbaijan did not close its border for transit and bilateral trade with Iran during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, cargo transportation also was not interrupted.

Alizada added that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran increased by 30 percent in 2021 and by 20 percent since the beginning of 2022.

He also highlighted the importance of the activities of businessmen and private companies in this issue.

Alizada opined that the Ashgabat meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran [held in Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat, on November 28, 2021 ] opened a new page in relations between the two countries, and signed an agreement on swap gas supplies, a new bridge across the Astarachay River and other similar projects are strong evidence of this.

Alizada said that a 132-kilometer section of the Azerbaijani-Iranian border was liberated as a result of the liberation of Karabakh from Armenian occupation by the Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev [during the 44-day Second Karabakh War].

The liberation of the border lines created new opportunities for expanding cooperation between the two countries.

Alizada informed Shafe’i about the large-scale construction and landscaping work being carried out in Azerbaijan’s liberated Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur regions and called on Iranian companies to invest in liberated territories.

Ambassador Alizada said that the construction of a railway cargo terminal in Astara [on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border] continues with the investment of the Azerbaijani government.

He also emphasized the contribution of the Rasht-Astara railway, which will be built within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), to the expansion of transit and transport ties.

He noted that the agreement signed between the two countries on the creation of transport and communication ties between the Eastern Zangazur economic region and Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of Iran will also play a big role in increasing transport and transit opportunities.

Iranian chairman noted that the peoples of the two countries have common historical roots, culture, and traditions.

According to Shafe'i, this led to the further development of bilateral cooperation.

The sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest and joint projects.

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