Pashinyan was officially received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday morning and the two held talks at the Saadabad Palace in the capital Tehran. In a joint press conference after the meeting, the Iranian president said Tehran is “sensitive” to the Caucasus region because it has been part of Iran’s history, culture and civilization, and security and peace throughout the region is important to Iran. “Our negotiations with Mr. Pashinian led to the conclusion that the resolution of the region’s issues should be in the hands of the region’s officials and authorities, and any foreign intervention will only create problems instead of solving them,” Raisi said. Pashinyan said he agreed with Raisi on the region’s ability to achieve lasting peace and security and wanted Iranian authorities to be fully informed about the content of Armenia’s talks with Azerbaijan and Turkey on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. In that context, he said, he discussed with the Iranian president what happened a day earlier in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, where he sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. After the meeting on Monday, Putin had said the talks had been “very useful” but the other two leaders would have to resolve lingering points of disagreement that he did not disclose. Baku and Yerevan “agreed not to use force” and to “resolve all disputes solely on the basis of recognition of mutual sovereignty and territorial integrity” in a joint statement released after the meeting in Sochi. The two have been at loggerheads for decades over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated by Armenians. Azerbaijan regained control of much of the region after a bloody six-week war in 2020 that ended with a Russian-brokered peace deal. But fighting broke out again between the forces of the two former Soviet countries last month, with more than 200 soldiers killed in several days.
Iran’s “red line”.
Iran, which shares a border with both countries, is calling for an end to the fighting. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolahian had a phone call with his counterpart from Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey late Monday, during which they discussed tensions in the Caucasus. However, Tehran has categorically rejected moves by Baku and Ankara aimed at creating a new transport link linking Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan enclave with mainland Azerbaijan, a route the two have dubbed the “Zanjegur Corridor”. . Top Iranian authorities have repeatedly stated that any attempts to change Iran’s borders or transit links with Armenia would constitute crossing a “red line” that Tehran would not tolerate. In a move to support that claim, Iran in late October became the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in Armenia’s southernmost province of Shunik, opening a consulate general in Kapan, which Baku and Ankara are seeking for their corridor. The Iranian armed forces also conducted several days of wide-ranging military drills in border areas with Azerbaijan and Armenia at the same time. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) showed footage of the construction of a floating bridge over a section of the Aras River for the first time to transport its forces and weapons to a northern section – which was still on Iranian territory, despite the fact that the river marks parts of the border between the two countries.
Strengthening ties with Armenia
Tehran is also increasingly vocal about its interest in strengthening bilateral ties with Armenia. Pashinyan’s visit to Tehran on Tuesday was also partly aimed at furthering that goal, with the Armenian leader saying many of the talks with Raisi focused on improving economic and trade relations. “We have had discussions on energy, agriculture, infrastructure and water management and we need to complete the negotiations and follow them seriously,” he said. Pashinyan also invited Raisi to visit Yerevan for further negotiations. Raisi, for his part, said Iran wants to increase the level of annual bilateral trade with Armenia to $3 billion. The volume of trade between the two reached about $500 million last year, according to a local media interview earlier this year with Hervik Yarijanian, the head of the Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce.
