According to exclusive information made available to The Cradle, Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is set to visit Iran over the next couple of weeks and is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on media cooperation between the two countries.
According to informed sources in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, when Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited Baku on 22 December a verbal agreement for this MoU was made between Abdollahian and Bayramov.
This MoU is expected to draw the path to the future for the Iranian and Azeri media in order to avoid further tensions between the neighboring nations.
The ties between Tehran and Baku have been on the mend over recent weeks, particularly following the first official visit by the Iranian Foreign Minister to Baku on 22 December.
According to the foreign media director at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Mojtaba Rouzbahani, “The brief but fruitful visit of the foreign minister to Baku, which is the first official visit of a high-ranking official of the government of [President Ebrahim Raisi] to the Republic of Azerbaijan, promises the success of the strategic policy of the new Iranian government in prioritizing ties with neighbors.”
Rouzbahani also spoke about some of the achievements Abdollahian’s, including the possibility of Iranian companies undertaking the reconstruction of the liberated areas in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and the resumption of direct flights between Iran and Azerbaijan.
There are also high expectations for the possible release and transfer of some Iranian citizens imprisoned in Azerbaijan and the participation of Iranian military experts in the demining process of the disputed territories.
Earlier this year tensions between Tehran and Baku nearly boiled over after the two countries found themselves at odds over the arrest of two Iranian truck drivers by Azeri security forces.
As the situation escalated, the two nations launched large-scale military exercises near their shared border. However, cooler heads prevailed and both have managed to find common ground to restore diplomatic relations.