Baku denies Tehran’s accusations it sabotages Iranian exports to Russia

Baku has denied the Iranian reports that Azerbaijan is sabotaging and obstructing the process of exporting goods from Iran to Russia. The Customs Committee of Azerbaijan announced today that the blockage took place on October 15-16, because the Iranian side shutting down the computer system for 10 hours. In addition, trucks also waste a lot of time loading goods on the Iranian side.

Baku says the delays are connected with the problems of the Iranian side. Denis Jalalifar, a member of the board of directors of the Russian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, had earlier said that Azerbaijan was creating export barriers.

“Eighty percent of our exports to Russia are food and agricultural products, most of which are sent from the Azerbaijani border in Astara. In this regard, we face sabotage and refusal to cooperate from the Azerbaijani authorities,” Jalalifar said. He added that Azerbaijan does not simply say that the border is closed, but creates artificial obstacles for its Iranian partners.

“Every day they bring different reasons why the border does not work. At first the electricity was cut off, then the X-ray machine was broken, then there were no dogs,” he said, noting that this is why many trucks line up at the border, which in Astara reaches up to 10 kilometers.