TEHRAN- The value of Iran’s export to Azerbaijan rose 18 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), the spokesman of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Saying that Iran exported over one million tons of commodities worth $510.987 million to Azerbaijan in the past year, Ruhollah Latifi said that the export also indicates a 11-percent rise in terms of weight year on year.

During a meeting in early June between Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov, the two sides explore avenues for expansion of economic and transport ties.

In this meeting, which was attended by Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and transport officials from both sides, the attendees expressed satisfaction with the upward trend of cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

Addressing the event, Talibov said the Islamic Republic of Iran and Azerbaijan have always had close friendship and cooperation, and now conditions are ripe for further expansion of this cooperation.

Eslami for his part noted that cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan is in the interest of all countries in the region, adding: "The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate with Nakhchivan and the Republic of Azerbaijan in various fields."

During the meeting, the officials also discussed cooperation in the fields of energy, rail transport and the completion of the Nakhchivan-Mashhad railway, and connecting Nakhchivan with other regions of Azerbaijan through the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The two sides decided to establish specialized working groups to follow up on the above-mentioned issues.

MA/MA