Iranian and Azerbaijani presidents to meet today

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet today.

The meeting of the two leaders near the Khoda Afarin Bridge on the Iran-Azerbaijan border had been announced back in March, but it was canceled weeks later for unspecified reasons.

During the meeting, the opening ceremony of the hydroelectric power stations and corresponding dams built on the border between the two countries will take place, Turan news agency reports, citing Iran’s Ministry of Energy.

The Khoda Afarin Bridge in Mekhakavan District on the border of Iran came under Azerbaijani control during the 44-day war. Before the war, despite protests from Baku, Tehran built a reservoir and a power plant in that section of the Arax River. But, at that time, the fact of Armenian control over those areas held Iran back from running them.

After the end of the war, Iranian and Azerbaijani officials announced that they could now jointly use the Khoda Afarin reservoir and power plant across the Arax River.