Astarachay Bridge to enhance Iran Azerbaijan economic cooperation

Readers of this blog site may recall that the signing ceremony of memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the construction of this bridge was covered on January 28 this year. Today an update is being presented, an evidence of the commitment and hard work of the people of both the countries.

Iranian Ambassador to Baku, Abbas Mousavi has said that completing the bridge over the Astarachay border river is going to diversify the modes of transportation between Iran and Azerbaijan and improve economic cooperation between the two countries.

“The completion of the bridge between Iran and Azerbaijan will boost business in both countries and result in diverse transportation (both railway and automobile) between the two sides,” Mousavi said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a visit to the bridge construction site.

Having a length of 89 meters and a width of 30 meters, this bridge aims to connect the international transit highways of the two countries (Baku-Rasht-Qazvin highways), the official explained.

According to the official, the transport ministers of the two countries are going to meet soon to discuss such joint projects and ways of expending transportation and transit cooperation.

“Also, a tripartite meeting between Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia will be held in the near future to review issues related to transit, customs, and the development of the North-South corridor,” Mousavi added.

Iran and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in late January for cooperation in constructing the bridge over the Astarachay border river.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Kheirollah Khademi and Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rahman Hummatov in Baku on January 26.

The two neighbors had earlier announced the total investment made in the project to be 4.7 million euros.

Speaking in the signing ceremony of the mentioned MOU, Azeri Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said the construction of the bridge is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.

"The president and the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan attach special importance to the development of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan expressed interest in further developing relations between the two countries in a cordial meeting in Ashgabat," the official said.

Noting that Azerbaijan and Iran have established deep relations in various areas including trade, economy, energy, customs, and investment, he said: "There are good opportunities between the two countries to implement joint projects in these fields."

Iranian Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi for his part called Azerbaijan the closest neighbor to Iran and said: "We hope that after the meeting of the presidents of the two countries, relations between the two nations will develop as much as possible."