Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev have inaugurated Qiz Qalasi Dam jointly built by the two sides and regarded as a new symbol of friendship and brotherhood between the two neighbors.
Raisi and Aliyev inaugurated the dam on Sunday morning after touring different parts of the facility located on the border river of Aras. They were provided with details on the construction process of the dam and the benefits of the project for the two sides.
The construction of the Qiz Qalasi Dam began two decades ago. It helps increase the water reserve at the nearby upstream Khoda-Afarin Dam by 2 billion cubic meters per year through channels and networks leading to plains in the Iranian provinces of East Azarbaijan and Ardebil as well as the Azerbaijan Republic.
Qiz Qalasi Dam also helps boost development in the tourism and agriculture sectors while paving the way for hydropower generation. The aim is to produce 270 GW/h of electricity per annum.
It is the third dam jointly built by Iran and Azerbaijan after the Aras and Khoda-Afarin dams. The newly-inaugurated project is seen as a symbol of friendship between the two countries following the ups and downs in their ties in recent years in the wake of attempts by outside parties, especially the Zionist regime, to interfere in Tehran-Baku relations.
On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the Qiz Qalasi Dam, the Iranian and Azerbaijani presidents held talks, discussing bilateral issues and regional developments.