Iran to invest $571m in Armenia electricity projects

TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (MNA) - An Iranian private sector consortium will invest $571 million in two projects in Armenia for commissioning the third power transmission line from Armenia to Iran and boosting the Aras River hydroelectric power plant capacity to 1.7 giga watts per year. Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou made the announcement in an interview on Sunday. Namjou, who heads Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Commission, said Iran will establish a pipeline to transfer gas to Armenia and, in return, will import electricity from the neighboring country. The agreement followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Armenia on Friday in which five cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed between the two neighbors. Building and operating hydroelectric power plants on Aras River which runs along the two countries' border, cooperation between national standards institutes of the two sides, cooperation in the social welfare sector, and cooperation in the field of environment protection were among the agreements. Energy Minister Namjou also said, “Iran and Armenia have had good relations since the past and this relation is still on the rise.” In similar remarks Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi told that Iran-Armenia relations are “very special”. Salehi also said Iran and Armenia are preparing the ground for signing a free trade agreement.