Tehran, June 13 (IANS) Iran has started importing electricity from its northern neighbour Azerbaijan to tackle the country's power shortage, an official here confirmed.

On Thursday, the electricity grid of Moghan in the northwest of Iran was synchronised with an electricity grid in Azerbaijan to feed 73 megawatts of electricity to the country's power grid, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, spokesman for Tehran's Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company, said on Saturday.

Recently, increasing demand in the summer, among other factors, has caused shortage in power supply across Iran.

Mashhadi called on household consumers to control their consumption, especially during the peak hours, to reduce the pressure on the power grid.

According to the report, more than 50 per cent of electricity consumption in Iran is allocated to household consumption.

Summers pose a challenge to Iran's electricity capacity as hot weather increases the use of air conditioning, especially in the south where temperatures can easily reach more than 40 degrees Celsius.

--IANS ksk/