An opening ceremony of the highway bridge and modular border checkpoint between the state borders of Azerbaijan and Iran across Astarachay river has been held.

The event was attended by Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister, Co-Chairman of the State Commission for Economic, Trade and Humanitarian Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran Shahin Mustafayev and Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Co-Chairman of the Commission from the Iranian side Mehrdad Bazrpash, Azernews reports citing Azertag.

The Memorandum of Understanding "From the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the territory of the checkpoints across the state border "Astara" (Republic of Azerbaijan) - "Astara" (Islamic Republic of Iran) over Astarachay River was signed between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2021.

The construction of the bridge started on March 1, 2022. The total length of the bridge intended for freight transport is 97.5 meters, with width of 4 meters.

During the last 11 months of the current year, the volume of cargo transportation between Azerbaijan and Iran increased by 46 percent compared to the same period last year, including transit transportation by 2.1 times. The opening of the new bridge and checkpoint will contribute to further increasing the volume of cargo transportation between the two countries.