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Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 7
By Seymur Aliyev, Umid Niayesh – Trend:
The North-South international transport corridor is one of the main issues between Iran and Azerbaijan as well as regional countries, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.
He made the remarks while on an official visit to Baku on Aug. 7, at a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Aug. 7, Trend correspondent reported from the event.
“The corridor will connect Azerbaijan to Persian Gulf and finally we will be able to connect Caucasus countries, Russia, northern and eastern Europe to the Persian Gulf,” Rouhani said.
He further expressed hope that the corridor would contribute to boosting economic ties of all regional countries.
The North-South International Transport Corridor is a multipurpose route for the transit of goods between Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Europe, India and Central Asia via shipping lines, railroad and land routes.
The first step on establishing the corridor will be finalized this year and the Astara (Azerbaijan)-Astara (Iran) rail bridge is going to be completed through Iran-Azerbaijan cooperation, Rouhani said.
The second step is to complete the Astara-Rasht railway, which will be finalized through a 50-50 investment of Iran and Azerbaijan, Rouhani added.