Off the wire
• 1st LD-Writethru: Web users select China's "Good Samaritans"  • Railway passenger trips rise in Q1  • Zidane sends warning to Ronaldo after injury scare  • Tropical Cyclone Winston forces Fiji to relocate 29 villages  • 1st Ld-Writethru: Economic Watch: China eyes more say in global gold pricing with new benchmark  • Chadian opposition parties threaten to form national salvation government  • CPC requires study of national security outlook  • S.Korea urges Japan to face up to history after Abe's offerings to war-linked shrine  • Feature: "It hurt badly" - Kenyan survivor recalls terror of female genital mutilation  • Major news items in leading German newspapers  
You are here: 　 Home

Iran, Azerbaijan launch railway construction linking both countries

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan held a ceremony marking the inauguration of the railway construction which will link both countries together, reported official IRNA news agency Thursday.

The ceremony was attended by Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, and Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy and Industry, Shahin Mustafaov, in the Republic of Azerbaijan's Astara port city.

Baku and Tehran decided to accelerate the railway construction which will connect Astara port city in Iran's northern Gilan province to Azerbaijan.

The agreement was signed during the Iranian-Azerbaijani Joint Economic Cooperation Commission held in Azerbaijan's Astara governorate on October 10, 2015.

Both countries will finance the railway construction as part a of the so-called north-south international transport corridor, according to IRNA.

The length of the railway is 10 kilometers, eight kilometers of which will pass through Azerbaijani territory and two kilometers of which will pass through Iranian territory.

Addressing the ceremony, Vaezi, also the chairman of the Iranian-Azerbaijani Joint Economic Cooperation Commission, said that relations between both countries have never been better.

Iran and Azerbaijan have a rich historical, cultural, religious and linguistic background, and frequent meetings between high ranking officials from both countries led to important decisions to develop ties between the two countries.

The north-south international transport corridor was designed with a capacity enabling it to transport 10 million tons of products, Vaezi was quoted as saying.

In February, Iran and Azerbaijan signed 11 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) and agreements in Iran's capital Tehran in order to develop ties in various fields.

The ceremony was also attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his visiting counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

Aliyev expressed his content over the lifted sanctions which were imposed by the international world upon Iran.

He added that the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and world powers allows for development opportunities between both countries in several sectors. Enditem