Tehran has announced that citizens of Azerbaijan will no longer need visas for short-term visits to Iran.

Starting from 2010, Azerbaijanis will able to stay in Iran visa-free for one month, Azerbaijani news agencies on December 7 reported Iran's ambassador to Baku, Mahammad Bagir Bahrami, as saying. "If needed, a citizen of Azerbaijan can go back home after a month and then return to Iran," APA quoted Bahrami as saying. He added that Iranian officials are considering extending the visa-free visit's term to three months.

Bahrami said that Tehran expects Baku to reciprocate the move.

The move would appear designed to facilitate ties between Iran's large ethnic Azeri minority and their relatives in Azerbaijan. Treatment of the minority is a frequent source of tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran.