TEHRAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian said Friday that his country and Azerbaijan would soon inaugurate a storage dam on the Aras River, which straddles the two countries' common border.
He made the remarks while elaborating on his meeting with visiting Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov in the Iranian capital Tehran earlier in the day and commenting on the bilateral cooperation in the power generation sector, reported Iran's official news agency IRNA.
Mehrabian said the dam, named "Qiz Qalehsi," would be inaugurated in a ceremony to be attended by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
He added that in addition, the two countries had almost completed the development of an earth-fill embankment dam on the Aras River, known as the "Khoda Afarin Dam."
The Iranian minister noted that both dams had been constructed in accordance with the latest international standards, adding their launch would allow the two countries to make maximum use of the river's water resources to safeguard their peoples' interests.
During their meeting, the two ministers also held negotiations about the expansion of their countries' capacity in the area of bilateral energy exchanges, among which the most important one is connecting the power grids of Iran and Russia through Azerbaijan, said Mehrabian.
For his part, the Azerbaijani minister expressed satisfaction with the imminent completion of the two dam projects, noting that following their inauguration, the two countries should construct a power plant in proximity to the dams through bilateral interaction to maximally use their water resources.
He also highlighted the synchronization of the power grids of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, stressing that the two sides decided to meet again to follow up on the project.
Shahbazov emphasized that Azerbaijan and Iran should develop their numerous joint projects with seriousness and through constructive interaction. ■
