TEHRAN - Iran and Azerbaijan are considering reopening of passenger traffic across their shared border following talks between senior officials, Iran’s minister of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts said on Saturday.

Speaking at a meeting with lawmakers from Ardabil province, Minister Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri said discussions were held during a visit to Azerbaijan alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian, adding that Azerbaijani President [Ilham Aliyev] had given positive assurances on the border reponing.

Salehi-Amiri said Azerbaijan had previously cited security concerns as an obstacle to reopening the border, but that the issue had now been resolved.

“If passenger crossings are reopened, it will bring several benefits,” he said, noting increased travel by Azerbaijani visitors to Iran, particularly to Ardabil province, which he said hosted about seven million tourists in the past [Iranian calendar] year.

He added that reopening the border would support family-based tourism in the frontier areas, similar to arrangements currently in place along Iran’s border with Iraq.

Salehi-Amiri said expanded cross-border activities would also boost exports, border economies and the promotion of tourism attractions in border regions.

According to Ardabil Governor-General Masoud Emami Yeganeh, President Pezeshkian has stressed the issuance of short-term visas for residents of border cities for the two countries.

Bileh Savar county lies in the Moghan plain in northwestern Iran and shares about 68 km of border with Azerbaijan. The area hosts a long-established customs post and a free trade and industrial zone, whose administrative office was recently launched.

AM