Azerbaijan, Iran increases trade turnover in 2013
By Sara Rajabova
Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran developed significantly in 2013 due to the activity of their Presidents.
Bilateral ties expanded in political, economic and cultural spheres, Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakayin told the Iranian media on January 6.
Pakayin said trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran increased by 23 percent in 2013, reaching $1 billion.
He said there is potential for expanding trade turnover, adding that it will further increase in 2014 as a result of the work done.
Pakayin further noted that there were periods in 2012 when relations between Azerbaijan and Iran were tense, but the situation was resolved by the two countries' Presidents in 2013.
He added that mutual trust and stable relations were established between the two countries.
Pakayin stressed that the head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration and Secretary of the National Security Council Ramiz Mehdiyev's visit to Iran, and the agreements reached in the political and security sectors in the course of his visit are testimonies to the two countries' serious desire to develop further relations.
He also appreciated the visit of the delegation headed by Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheykhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade to Iran as a new stage in relations between the two countries.
Pakayin went on to say that the visits made on the eve of the presidential elections in Iran and Azerbaijan played an important role in the development of bilateral dealings.
Pakayin stressed that relations between the parliaments of the two countries strengthened in 2013.
He added that Iranian MPs' visits to Azerbaijan last year, the meetings held here, and Azerbaijani parliamentarians' visits to Iran and their meeting with Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, helped to strengthen bilateral relations.
Pakayin said relations between the two countries also rapidly developed in the cultural sphere.
Iran and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.