Aliyev and Rouhani Announce Historic Agreements

Baku / 03/29/18 / Turan: The North-South transport corridor is intended to connect Northern Europe with South-East Asia and unite the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the first stage, along the corridor, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year, and later - more than 10 million tons. This was stated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at a joint press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday evening.

"A number of documents have been signed today, among which I want to highlight two documents: documents related to our joint work in the Caspian Sea and the construction of the Astara-Rasht railway." These documents are of historical significance, because as a result of these documents our cooperation in Caspian Sea, as well as in the field of transport, will rise to an even higher level and at the same time, it will have a very positive impact on regional cooperation," he said.

In turn, the Iranian President also confirmed the importance of the North-South corridor and cooperation in the Caspian, as well as cooperation in the banking sector and the development of tourism.

Touching on the Karabakh conflict, Rouhani said the need to address the problem by political measures. "It is important for us that the territorial integrity of the countries be preserved," Rouhani said.

It should be noted that the parties did not disclose the details of the agreement on joint development of the Caspian fields. This is the most significant and truly historic moment, because for more than two decades, Baku and Tehran have been arguing about the belonging of offshore oil and gas fields, as well as their national borders at sea.

Agreements on these issues mean a serious breakthrough and easing of tension and will contribute not only to regional cooperation, but also to such a project as the Southern Gas Corridor and the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.

On Thursday morning in Baku, under the chairmanship of the Presidents of the two countries, an Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum opened with the participation of business circles of the two states. -02D-