Iran restores visa-free regime for Azerbaijanis

On September 1, Iran restored the visa-free regime for citizens of Azerbaijan, which remained suspended from August 5 to 31 in the wake of holding the Non-Aligned Movement Summit Tehran.

"From today on, Azerbaijani citizens can visit Iran as before – without visas," said Abbas Iskenderi, the head of the press service of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).

According to the Iranian Embassy, during the visa regime, Baku and Nakhichevan issued 150-200 visas daily to Azerbaijani citizens.

The direct overland communication between the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR) and the rest of Azerbaijan was interrupted in late 1989 because of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. In Soviet times, passenger and freight transportation between the NAR and the rest of Azerbaijan was performed by the railway running along the Iranian border and a parallel highway. 46 km of these roads passed across the Megri District of Armenia.

Civil society activists from the southern regions of Azerbaijan have confirmed that from September 1 the visa-free entry to the IRI was renewed. In this context, no crowds at customs checkpoints are observed.

The visa-free regime between Azerbaijan and Iran was unilaterally introduced by Tehran in February 2010.