Iranian FM visits Azerbaijan following months of simmering tensions

ByNews Desk- The Cradle

During a joint press conference with his Azeri counterpart, the diplomats announced Tehran and Baku are working at developing bilateral relations

On 22 December, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited the Azeri capital, Baku, where he met with President Ilham Aliyev and other officials.

During a joint press conference between Amir Abdollahian and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, the two diplomats announced that Azerbaijan and Iran “are working on a roadmap for new projects.”

“At today’s meeting, we discussed the development of bilateral relations, cooperation within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other issues,” Bayramov said.

Bayramov also noted that within months after the formation of the new government in Iran, concrete actions were taken on a number of new projects.

“An example of this is the agreement reached in Ashgabat on the transit of Turkmen gas,” he added, referring to an agreement reached between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Azeri counterpart back in November.

The two foreign ministers highlighted other projects, such as the construction of the Khudaferin, Gyz Galasy, and Ordubad power plants, the construction of a bridge across Astarachay, the development of the Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia corridor, as well as the launch of a joint automobile plant in Neftchala.

Over recent months, neighboring Iran and Azerbaijan have been working to ease tensions, which flared earlier this year, following an incident involving two Iranian drivers who were returning from Armenia.

Baku ordered the arrest of the drivers, alleging they had entered the country illegally. This diplomatic crisis unraveled with both Tehran and Baku launching large-scale military exercises near their shared border.

In particular, the Islamic Republic condemned Baku’s close ties with Israel over their many arms deals, and issued warnings that it would not tolerate the presence of “Zionist forces” near their territory.

However, during the meeting between Raisi and Aliyev on the sidelines of the 15th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 28 November, the two leaders have said that neither side would allow foreign interference in the affairs of countries in the region.