Iran's President to Visit Azerbaijan Next Month

Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is set to visit Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, next month for the second time in the past two years. The press office of the Azerbaijani presidency reported on Tuesday, July 15, that Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, expressed hope during a phone conversation with Rouhani that his visit would motivate the development of bilateral relations. The Iranian presidency's information website also reported that Rouhani congratulated Aliyev on Eid al-Fitr during their phone call and stated that "the strong will of both governments and the love and affection of both nations provide a solid foundation for deepening and developing comprehensive relations between Tehran and Baku." He said that "Iran is fully prepared to elevate the relations of the two countries to a level where both nations can achieve their long-standing desire for maximum utilization of common opportunities." According to the report, Aliyev mentioned that important documents prepared in the fields of politics, economy, transit, and transportation for the development of relations outline a very bright prospect for the two countries' relations. Rouhani is scheduled to travel to Baku in August. His previous visit was in November 2014, during which several memorandums of understanding were signed between the two countries. Aliyev has visited Tehran twice during Rouhani's government, and many agreements have been signed between the two countries. During Aliyev's visit to Iran last March, 11 cooperation agreements were signed. The International Bank of Azerbaijan recently agreed to provide a $500 million loan to Iran for the completion of the Rasht-Astara railway line. The construction of the Rasht-Astara railway is estimated to cost $1.1 billion. After completing the Rasht-Astara section and connecting it to Azerbaijan's railway network, the international North-South corridor will be nearly complete. This corridor will connect Russia and the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf through Azerbaijan and Iran, enabling the annual transport of 10 million tons of goods from China, India, and other Asian countries to these regions and vice versa. Bilateral relations between the two countries experienced serious tensions during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second presidency. However, since 2013, these tensions have decreased, and over the past two years, both countries have focused again on developing economic and trade relations. According to the official report from Azerbaijan's customs, the country's exports to Iran during the first five months of 2016 increased by more than 116% compared to the same period last year, and Azerbaijan's imports from Iran also showed a 42% increase. Nevertheless, the trade relations between the two countries are still much lower than during Ahmadinejad's first presidency. In 2008, the two countries had over $500 million in bilateral trade, but recent statistics indicate that in the first five months of 2016, bilateral trade did not even reach $78 million.