Page 42 - IRANRptFeb20

9.1.4​ Transport sector news
Border officials of Iran and Azerbaijan this week met to discuss a planned 1,300-metre multi-lane dual carriageway that will span the border of the two countries by the city of Astara located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, according to AzerNews. Astara itself essentially spans the border, with Astara, Iran, a short walk from Astara, Azerbaijan.
Trade between the neighbouring countries has increased significantly in recent years primarily because Azerbaijan uses its location between Iran and Russia to its advantage to form a trade hub. However, despite the increase in trade, the existing infrastructure linking Iran and Azerbaijan is antiquated. Huge queues of people are typically seen on both sides of the border gate facility, which dates back to the USSR era. Astara in Iran, with its beaches and temperate rainforest, is seen as a big tourist destination for Iranians and foreigners, especially visitors from the Caucasus.
Construction of the “Astara-Astara” highway has started, Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Khayrullah Khademi has told local media.
In recent comments, he said that "the transit of products and the transportation of citizens between Iran and Azerbaijan is one of the main tasks." He added: "In this regard, a new border terminal has been built outside the city,"
It is believed the new bypass will connect with the main Iranian highway that runs by the northern border.
Rauf Mammadov, an expert and resident scholar on energy policy at The Middle East Institute, said that the new motorway would certainly be beneficial for cross-border trade.
“The project is a critical element of Baku's vision to enhance the country's capabilities as a North-South transit corridor. In 2018, Azerbaijan completed the revamp of the Alat-Astara highway which connects Baku with the Iranian border, and is currently working on further expanding it,” Mammadov said.
9.1.5 ​TMT sector news
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has opened his first Russian language Twitter account, according to MK.RU on January 29. The most powerful cleric in Iran has had several foreign language services via his website, leader.ir for several years, however, it is only in recent months his office has opened other languages including Azerbaijani – which he speaks via his maternal line – and Russian this week.
In his first tweet, the top ayatollah tweeted in Russian “ In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Merciful!” A line from the Islamic daily prayer.
Twitter, Facebook and other popular social media networks are blocked in Iran, but Iranians manage to access the sites via widely available virtual private networks (VPNs).
Iran’s recent disconnection of the internet in the midst of the social unrest provoked by a sudden big petrol price hike cost local telecom operators around $90mn, Iranian Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told local media on December 2.
The near-total internet blackout lasted for around a week from November 16 as protests and riots broke out across the country, leading—according to an Amnesty International latest estimation released on December 2—to the loss of at least 208 lives. Access was only permitted for some online services such
42​ IRAN Country Report​ February 2020 www.intellinews.com