Khoda Afarin Dam
Khoda Afarin Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Aras River straddling the international border between Iran and Azerbaijan. It is located west of Khomarlu in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran and southwest of Soltanlı in Jabrayil District, Azerbaijan, de facto controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since 1993. It is located upstream of the Khodaafarin Bridges.
The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and irrigation. It was conceived as a joint project with the Soviet Union and both sides reached an agreement in October 1977. Designs were finalized in 1982, revised in the early 1990s and construction began in 1999. According to Armenian media reports, Iran made a secret agreement with Armenia to complete the project.
The dam was complete and began to impound water in 2008. It was inaugurated in 2010. The irrigation works are still underway. During construction, several Bronze Age sites were discovered, including the grave of a Saka-Scythian warrior. The reservoir filling, or impoundment, was delayed in 2008 to accommodate excavations. The dam's power plant has an installed capacity of and is designed to irrigate.
