Iran, Azerbaijan may become East-West, North-South crossroads - Pezeshkian

BAKU. April 28 (Interfax) - Iran and Azerbaijan may turn into a crossroads connecting the East and the West, the North and the South, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.

"Iran and Azerbaijan may become a crossroads connecting the East and the West, the North and the South. We have such a geographical position that we can create this communication link," Pezeshkian told an Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum in Baku on Monday.

For his part, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the two countries are involved in major international projects, in particular, they are closely collaborating on the North-South transport corridor project.

"We want it to be not just a transport corridor, but to provide an opportunity for opening new businesses, new industrial enterprises along the route both in Azerbaijan and Iran," Aliyev said.

Aliyev was also commenting on the Azerbaijani-Iranian project to build a corridor across Iran.

"The Araz corridor project [55 kilometers long] is drawing much attention both in our region and globally. There are various assumptions and rumors around this project. There are actually no grounds for that. This is because it is simply a new transportation project. It is a project that is connecting a major part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via Iran," he said.

The Araz corridor will also open great transit opportunities for Azerbaijan and Iran, Aliyev said.

The president also invited Iranian companies to join in infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan.

"Railroads, highways, communication lines, and electricity transmission lines, all these projects are on our main agenda today," Aliyev added.