Khudafarin Reservoir

"Khudafarin" reservoir — a reservoir built on the Aras River on the international border between Iran and Azerbaijan. It is the third reservoir of Azerbaijan by capacity and volume. It is located 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) west of the village of Khumarli, which belongs to Iran's East Azerbaijan province, and 1 km north‑west of the village of Khudafarin in Azerbaijan's Jabrail district. It covers the administrative territories of the Jabrail and Zangilan districts. From 1993 until 18 October 2020 the reservoir, together with the eponymous hydroelectric power station, was under the control of the Republic of Armenia.

The reservoir was built in accordance with an agreement signed between Iran and Azerbaijan on the Aras River. Irrigation of an area of 75,000 hectares with the reservoir’s waters was planned.

On 19 May 2024 the opening ceremony of the "Khudafarin" hydrojunction was held with the participation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Ibrahim Raisi.

History

The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric energy production and irrigation. Its project was prepared by an agreement between the Soviet Union and Iran held in October 1977. The design was completed in 1982, revised again in the early 1990s and construction began in 1999. According to information from Armenian media, Iran signed a secret agreement with Armenia to complete the project.

The Khudafarin issue returned to the agenda in 1993 after Heydar Aliyev returned to power. During H. Aliyev’s first five‑day official visit to Iran on 28 June – 2 July 1994, a memorandum on the implementation of the project was signed.

In the Turan agency's information dated 2 July 1994 it is written that "An agreement has been reached on the construction of a large hydrojunction near the Khudafarin bridge on the Aras River at the border between the Azerbaijani government delegation in Tehran and Iran's Ministry of Energy (in the south‑west region of Azerbaijan under Armenian occupation). The future hydrojunction will consist of a water reservoir and four power stations. The water reservoir will hold 1.6 billion cubic metres of water. The daily discharge capacity of the reservoir's 'Qız Qalası' regulator will be 60 million cubic metres of water. Currently, only one billion cubic metres of water is used from the Aras River via the Nakhchivan water reservoir. Preliminary estimates put the project cost at 700 million dollars and the construction period at eight years. According to experts' calculations, the hydrojunction will recover its cost within eight years." However, according to the statement at that time by Ahmad Ahmadzadeh, chairman of Azerbaijan's State Melioration Committee, "All talks about construction lose their meaning until these lands are liberated."

The completion of the section took place in 2008. The SES on the reservoir was opened in 2010. Construction related to irrigation works is still ongoing. During the construction several sites from the Bronze Age, including the tomb of the Sak‑Ishkit warrior, were discovered. As a result of the reservoir's construction, many villages of the Jabrail and Zangilan districts and their territories were submerged. The railway along the riverbank and the Baku‑Zangilan highway also lie under water within the reservoir area.

The Khudafarin water reservoir, completed by Iran, was fully filled with water from the Aras River in 2010, submerging more than 1,300 hectares of Azerbaijan's territory and completing the process.

On May 19, 2024, the opening ceremony of the "Xudafərin" hydrojunction took place. The opening was attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Ibrahim Raisi.