Azerbaijan: Visa-Free Travel to Iran is a Hit

Azerbaijani border guards report that Azerbaijani citizens have been crossing into neighboring Iran in droves since Tehran eased visa requirements.

Before Iranian visa requirements for Azerbaijanis were lifted, roughly 650 people per week would cross the border into Iran, stated Vusal Musayev, the head of Azerbaijan's Astarin border checkpoint, the Regnum news agency reported. By comparison, 700 Azerbaijani citizens crossed the border between 9 am and 12:30 pm alone on February 17, Musayev said. Border officials say that most people go to Iran for commercial purposes, ANS television station reported.

Home to a large ethnic Azeri minority, Iran cancelled short-term visas for Azerbaijanis in January in a bid to boost economic ties to its northern neighbor. Apparently wary of Tehran's growing regional clout and the spread of radical Islam, Azerbaijan, however, has not reciprocated.