Iran Makes Exception, Will Open Land Border Only for Azerbaijan

The governor of Iran's Ardabil province, Hadi Ameli, has announced the opening of a border checkpoint with Azerbaijan.

Ameli stated that this decision aims to foster relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

“The development of Iran and Azerbaijan’s relations is a concern for our country and the residents of our northern neighbor, and this issue was discussed during the meeting of the two countries’ presidents,” he told the IRNA news agency. According to Ameli, the opening of the Aslanduz border checkpoint will have significant implications for economic prosperity and mutual relations.

Last week, Iranian authorities had closed the land borders with neighboring countries due to the threat posed by the spread of the Omicron variant. Seyyed Rouhollah Latifi, a representative of Iran's customs administration, had earlier announced that, according to the order from the operational headquarters for combating the spread of coronavirus, the borders with neighboring countries would remain closed for 15 days starting December 25.

Previously, RUSARMINFO reported that the Tehran city hall had named one of the streets in Shushi using the Armenian name of the fortified city in Nagorno-Karabakh, which stirred discontent among Azerbaijanis.