MNA – The main objective on the Wed. visit of Russia’s Putin and Azerbaijan’s Aliyev to Tehran is to follow up talks on the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Deputy FM Rahimpour said Sunday.


Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs, Ebrahim Rahimpour, said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev will convene on Wednesday in Tehran to hold the second round of trilateral summit with President Rouhani to discuss the North-South Transport Corridor project.

The INSTC is a 7,200km long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

The first trilateral summit between Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan was held in Baku in August 2016, with the main focus on the INSTC project.

“The issue of transit has gained special importance during the term of President Rouhani, and I believe that Iran has ample opportunities for cooperation in the fields of tourism, transit, and trade,” Rahimpour said.

The Iranian diplomat noted that President Putin will stay in Tehran for a one-day visit, adding “regional and international issues, as well as Iran nuclear deal will naturally be discussed during his visit. Russia is our ally and Azerbaijan has always backed the JCPOA.”

Rahimpour maintained that Astana peace talks, the latest developments in Syria and the region as a whole will comprise other topics of discussion in the bilateral and trilateral meetings of the Russian and Azeri presidents, stressing however that the North–South Transport Corridor will take center stage during the Wednesday talks.