Specialist in Iranian studies: Early completion of North-South  highway construction is of geopolitical importance for Armenia

ArmInfo. The early completion of the construction of the North- South highway is of geopolitical importance for Armenia, although, of course, one should not attach  secondary importance to the economic effect of this project, which  must be implemented very efficiently.  Vardan Voskanyan, Head of the  Department of Iranian Studies, Yerevan State University, expressed  such an opinion to ArmInfo, 

"North-South" is of great importance to us, given that this artery is  a component of the Iran-Armenia- Georgia transport corridor  connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea. In this light, the  Armenian government will have to organize work in the direction of  bringing the existing infrastructure in a state corresponding to the  importance of this project, first of all for ourselves, "he stressed.   The construction of the North-South highway will reduce the distance  from the Iranian to Georgian borders from 556 to 490 kilometers. The  motorway will significantly facilitate access to the Black Sea not  only for Armenia, but also for Iran. The project is funded by loans  provided by the Asian Development Bank. The corresponding agreement  with ADB on the provision of half a billion dollars was signed by the  Armenian government in September 2009. To date, only part of the work  has been completed. In general, the project is estimated at $ 1-2  billion according to various estimates.

According to the expert in Iranian studies, the safest in all senses  route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea passes through  the territory of Armenia. Accordingly, Yerevan should actively  advance this project, given Iran's repeatedly voiced interest.  Voskanyan is convinced that North-South, thereby, provides a  full-fledged alternative for both Armenia and Iran with Georgia.  The  expert emphasized the importance of the early operation of the  corridor for Armenia, due to its closed borders with Azerbaijan and  Turkey. In turn, Tehran, according to its estimates, is also  interested in the appearance of an alternative to the Turkish and  Azerbaijani transit routes to Europe.