The reopening of the railway between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a very important topic. In an interview with Iranian state television, Nikol Pashinyan said, answering the question, taking into account the challenges related to the Middle Route from Azerbaijan, such as Armenia's common policy on this route, and what red lines exist in Armenia.
"You are aware that we have formed the" Crossroads of Peace "project, which is largely unblocking all transport channels and economic ties in our region. The reopening of the railway between Armenia and Azerbaijan is a very important topic in this context. Of course, in this context, Azerbaijan, that is, or from the territory of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Armenia, from the territory of the Republic of Armenia to Armenia through the territory of the Republic of Armenia to Armenia through the territory of the Republic of Armenia through the territory of the Republic of Armenia to Armenia, or from Nakhichevan to Armenia.
I was able to present from Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan through the territory of Armenia and Armenia to Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan. And we have recently made a very concrete proposal to resolve this issue to Azerbaijan, and the first stage concerns the implementation of railway cargo transportation. Of course, we believe that this issue should be resolved in respect of the territorial integrity, jurisdiction and sovereignty of the countries. And the solution we have suggested, we think, fully satisfies this condition.
In addition, it is very important that he is fully full, full, full-fledged, complete cargo transportation, that is, that these freights are carried out, not obstacles, and so on. Of course, what is the subtlety of Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan today, and we also say that we are ready to offer the same conditions, of course, given the feature that not only Azerbaijan's territory of Azerbaijan through Azerbaijan, but also from Armenia to Nakhichevan railway cargo transportation through Azerbaijan.
We are also ready to go to some simplifications, of course, on the principle of reciprocity. But here it is very important to record what will happen in the case of this project. This will also have a very positive impact on Armenia-Iran relations, because in this context, it means that both Azerbaijan and Armenia will be able to use each other's territories for international rail freight.
You know that in case of opening these channels, we will have a Armenia-Iran railway, which will significantly deepen our economic relations. And at the same time, Azerbaijan will have the opportunity to have full railway cargo transportation through the territory of the Republic of Armenia to Turkey, which means that both Armenia and Azerbaijan are fully integrated into the international railway network. But at the same time, I would like to say again, it will significantly deepen trade and economic relations between Iran and Armenia.
See when I say that the Republic of Armenia is one of the most best ways to the Islamic Republic of Iran, but we have no opportunity to carry out rail transport today. The issue of building a Armenia-Iran railway has been discussed for a long time, but due to relief, such a railway requires very large investments and there is still no justification that the possible cargo will be puncrued at least in the long run. But in case of the implementation of the "Peace Crossroquer" program, we will have a railway channel to the Gulf of the Persian Gulf, as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran through the territory of Armenia to the Black Sea and then to the West.
This is a very important project, but we want to be very active and seriously, and we want this project to be implemented, including the Western Region of Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan and Armenia, but at the same time I want to emphasize the international context. Today there is a global international transport crisis, which is due to the situation around Ukraine. And today, the large-scale cargo is expected to flow from the north to south, and if our regional transport and economic communications are opened, the volume of freight is so high. This also gives a great opportunity to think about new infrastructure projects on regional cooperation, "Pashinyan said.