Iran makes up for lost time: waiting for the Araz Corridor

By the end of this year, the Agbend-Kalale bridge across the Araz River will be ready. The construction of the entire border and customs infrastructure on this section of the Azerbaijani-Iranian border will be completed before the Novruz holiday. This means that we will have an alternative to air travel to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for the spring days. We will be able to visit our relatives and friends in Nakhchivan on the new highway. In the future, the western regions of Azerbaijan and the NAR will be connected by a railway, which is being built along the same route.

The Iranian side is currently completing its part of the bridge. Azerbaijan completed the work long ago. The road bridge from Agbenda to Kalale is 374 meters long and 27.6 meters wide. It includes four traffic lanes, two safety lanes and dividing lanes, as well as pedestrian paths about 3 meters wide on each side. Iran is also working on widening the road from the Agbend-Kalale Bridge to the city of Julfa. Due to the complexity of the terrain, several bridges and tunnels will be built on this site. These works, according to the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, Farzane Sadegh, are planned to be completed within the next one to two years.

At a recent meeting of the delegations of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev called the Araz Corridor a unique infrastructure project. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the new route will be a branch of the North-South, West-East and Middle Corridors.

The agreements that have already been reached between Azerbaijan and Iran in terms of the development of international corridors are fundamental. These projects connect not only the cardinal directions, but, first of all, our two countries. Work is underway on the development of the North-South MTK, the construction of the Astara cargo terminal and a new automobile and pedestrian bridge over the Astarachay River continues. The Agbend-Kalale bridge and road are of particular importance for Azerbaijan, as well as for Iran. Iran will benefit enormously from the opening of these communications. Becoming part of the East-West corridor has been a long-standing dream of the Iranian side, and now it will be able to fulfill it. The opening of this road will allow Iran to enter the wider world after the commissioning of the Agband-Jabrail-Agdam-Yevlakh-Georgia and Agband-Lachin-Kalbajar-Ganja-Georgia highways.

It all started on March 11, 2022, when a historic document was signed in Baku that dramatically changed the agenda of discussions around the fate of regional communications. The governments of the two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the creation of new communication links between the East Zangezur Economic Region and Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of Iran. The signed memorandum can be safely called another geostrategic victory of Azerbaijan, the result of the well-thought-out policy of President Ilham Aliyev and his broad view of the future of the country and the region.

This decision came as a big surprise to everyone. Few people could have imagined that Azerbaijan would so masterfully solve the problem of communication with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic after Armenia actually refused to allow it to travel through Zangezur. Azerbaijan needed a road to NAR, and it could not wait for Yerevan to come to its senses. Therefore, during the 15th meeting of the State Commission for Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in the economic, Trade and humanitarian spheres, a historic agreement was concluded between the governments of Azerbaijan and Iran. The document provides for the construction of a railway line, a multi-lane highway, power transmission lines, digital communications, etc. on the territory of Iran about 5 km south of the Armenian-Iranian border. In a sense, the Araz corridor is a mirror image of the "Trump Route," as the Zangezur Corridor became known after the meeting in Washington on August 8. But the road through Iran is not an alternative to the road through Armenia. Each of the projects has its own characteristics and its own tasks.

It should be noted that although the agreement on the Araz Corridor was reached three years ago, it was only after the new President of Iran, Masoud Peseshkian, took office that the process began to move forward. Prior to this, the project was delayed under various pretexts. In January of this year, Iran's Deputy Minister of Security and Law Enforcement, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, said at a meeting with officials that no organization has the right to interfere with the implementation of the Araz Corridor. "Any mistake in the implementation of this key project can lead to serious consequences," he said. According to Tasnim, the Deputy Minister announced the priority acceleration of the construction of the Agbend-Kalale bridge, the Kalale border terminal and the implementation of the Araz corridor.

Representatives of the East Azerbaijan province's leadership told reporters earlier that officials' disregard for the Araz corridor has become a problem in recent years. It was stressed that a careless attitude towards this important project could lead to Iran's isolation, given its strategic proximity to Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. Interestingly, reasonable concerns have been openly expressed that if the Zangezur Corridor (now TPIPP) is built earlier, Iran risks remaining outside regional transport routes, as neighboring countries will be able to use alternative corridors, including through Armenian territory, which will reduce the need for transit through Iran.

After the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as president, Iran began talking about the unique possibilities of the corridor in the face of increasing competition for transport routes. The Iranian media emphasized that the Araz corridor will become part of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor connecting Russia, China, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey with Eastern Europe and England. The commissioning of the Araz transit corridor and the Kalale border terminal will open up new prospects for export growth and strengthening economic activity in the region. In addition, the early construction of a 60-kilometer railway parallel to the Iranian section of the Araz automobile corridor, Iranian officials are confident, will make it possible to complete the North-South railway without completing the problematic Rasht-Astara road. Iran's railways will be able to integrate into the railway networks of the former Soviet Union, which will bring great benefits to the country.

All the conclusions that the Iranian side has reached today have been made in Azerbaijan for a long time. Baku has repeatedly pointed out to its neighbors the benefits that Iran receives from the implementation of Azerbaijan's initiatives. The Azerbaijani side does not pursue any dark goals and does not build insidious plans against its neighbors, but offers mutually beneficial cooperation.

As part of the automotive segment of the international North-South transport corridor, the Agbend-Kalale Bridge is indispensable. The Rasht-Astara road is critically important for the railway segment. Although Iranian officials think that it will be possible to do without it. Within the framework of the trilateral meeting in Baku, the delegations of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia visited the Iranian side of the border to see how things are going on in the Astara-Rasht section.

There is a contractual framework between the parties. In December last year, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of transit cargo transportation through the ITC. In September 2022, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran signed the Baku Declaration on the Development of the International North-South Transport Corridor. On October 13, 2025, representatives of the governments of the three countries adopted a Communique providing for the creation of a working group to prepare an Action Plan in connection with the need to increase traffic volumes to 15 million tons and ensure continuous growth in cargo flows.

There are never too many roads. Roads are never superfluous. They connect people and countries, forming a kind of "lymphatic network" of the planet. Whoever builds roads is working for the future. Azerbaijan offers its neighbors to build it together.