Baku, Tehran mulling cooperation in energy

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Iran and Azerbaijan has viewed prospects of the cooperation in energy field during Azerbaijani delegation’s visit to the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Said Ansari, the first deputy chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Commission a senior Iranian lawmaker has said the two neighbors Iran and Azerbaijan have the chance to cooperate in a lot of energy projects.

The remarks came while Azerbaijan’s Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev is in Tehran discussing trade ties with Iranian officials.

“After UN resolution which lifted sanctions on Iran, all oil countries and others on this path have started to try oil relations with Iran,” Ansari told Trend on August 4.

He added that Iran is open to all honest countries for cooperation.

“Azerbaijan is neighbor and can help some oil, gas, and energy, and I hope the Islamic Republic can establish cooperation with the neighbor country,” Ansari said.

Ansari further said the two counties can cooperate in drilling, exploration, extraction, refineries, even in electricity production and transfer.

Azerbaijan and Iran are also creating a working group to analyze the current situation and coordination of positions on North-South railway project.

This decision was made following the meeting between Mustafayev and Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development in Tehran, Trend reported.

During the meeting, the sides emphasized the great significance of this project for both countries.

North-South railway will connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a bridge to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.

This project envisages creating a border railway bridge between Iranian and Azerbaijani Astara, as well as laying 8-kilometer-long branch on Azerbaijan’s territory.

The railway’s capacity will stand at 1.4 million passengers and 5-7 million metric tons of cargo per year, according to the preliminary estimations. As many as 22 tunnels and 15 bridges will be built throughout the railway. The volume of cargo transportation through the corridor will amount to 6 million metric tons at the initial stage and will reach 15-20 million metric tons in the future.

During the Tehran visit, Mustafayev is accompanied by the officials of various state agencies of Azerbaijan and 30 representatives of the private sector.

Iranian officials have repeatedly called on Azerbaijani businessmen to make investments in various sectors of economy in the Islamic Republic.

Azerbaijan was the 12th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015, according to the Iran Customs Administration.

Iran exported $435.34 million of non-oil goods to Azerbaijan and imported $22.22 million of non-oil goods from the country.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and diplomatic relations between the two countries were reestablished in 1992.

Currently, the two countries are focused on expanding their economic ties in various fields, including industry, agriculture, energy, alternative energy, and transportation.