Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 18 / Trend M.Aliyev /
Azerbaijan and Iran will increase cooperation in transport, energy and investments in the coming years, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a news conference today in Baku.
He added that he has had in-depth talks on the issue with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"Iran-Azerbaijan relations are more than relations between two neighboring, friendly countries," Ahmadinejad said. "They are relations between two fraternal nations. No one can interrupt our relations."
According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, trade turnover with Iran totaled $167.26 million in January-September; 76.87 million accounted for imports from Iran, and 90.39 million for exports to the country.
Azerbaijan and Iran currently cooperate strongly in the gas sector.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected via the Gazi-Magomed-Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline, which is 1,474.5 kilometers in length. Its capacity was initially 10 billion cubic meters per year, but has recently been reduced. The route is a branch of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran gas pipeline, which was commissioned in 1971.
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is currently constructing a new compressor station in the Astara region, which will increase gas transportation to Iran by late 2010.
Azerbaijani gas is supplied to Iran in order to deliver fuel to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The expansion of a gas compressor station in Astara will fully provide gas to NAR. Iran is interested in purchasing roughly 5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year.
