Azerbaijan-Iran border issues to be mulled in Iran
By Sara Rajabova
Elchin Guliyev, the Azerbaijani State Border Service (SBS) Chief will visit Iran in the second half of 2014.
This was announced at a meeting between Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mohsen Pak Ayeen and SBS Chief, Commander of Border Troops, Lieutenant General Guliyev, the Iranian embassy said.
An official invitation from Iran's Border Police Commander Hussein Zulfugari was handed over to Guliyev.
During the meeting the parties stressed the importance of these visits and their significance in solving the drug smuggling and human trafficking problems.
Guliyev accepted his colleague's invitation and said he will visit Iran in the second half of this year.
He also said the situation on the two countries' border is an example of friendship and brotherhood.
Commander of the Iranian Border Police Zulfugari visited in last September and mulled the issues of interest with the Azerbaijani officials.
Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.
Data from the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan shows that trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $281.03 million in 2013, which is 6.13 percent higher than 2012. The figure stood at $263.785 million in 2012.
Iran imported $73.347 million worth of goods from Azerbaijan in 2013, while its exports to Azerbaijan stood at $207.683 million during the same period.
Iran's trade turnover with Azerbaijan in the first eleven months of 2013 stood at $470 million ($448 million exports and $22 million imports), Iran's customs administration's latest report shows.