Railway to connect Iran to Russia via Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Tehran Javanshir Akhundov said the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway project which is currently under-construction in Iran will be connected to the Russian railway through Azerbaijan's territory. Speaking on the sidelines of a visit by representatives of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to the under-construction Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway network, the Azeri envoy said that the railway will link Iran’s railway system to Russia via Azerbaijan. “These three countries (Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia) have trilateral contract for construction and completion of the railway system," Akhundov added. “We hope that this railway network will be completed soon and be utilized in order to help the two countries to make use of the advantages of connection of railways to each other,” the Azeri ambassador expressed. Iran has recently enhanced efforts to boost political, economic and cultural ties and cooperation with the regional and neighboring countries, specially the Central Asian states. In October 2012, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled to Baku to attend the 12th Summit of ECO. The Iranian and Azeri presidents met on the sidelines of the Summit, where both leaders reiterated the necessity for exploring new avenues to develop bilateral ties and cooperation.