TEHRAN – The Iranian Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, met on Friday with Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan.

The meeting took place amid a new escalation between Yerevan and Baku. 

“On September 1, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan received the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani,” the Armenian defense ministry said in a statement. 

The statement added, “The meeting was attended by the Defense Attaché of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia, Colonel Bahman Sadeghin. A number of topics of Armenian-Iranian cooperation, as well as regional security issues, were discussed.”

Sobhani is a veteran Iranian diplomat with experience in serving in hotspots. Previously, he was Iran’s ambassador to Syria, where a decade-long conflict turned the Arab country into a hive of diplomatic activity.

He has been recently posted to Armenia, which is locked in a dispute with Azerbaijan over a number of issues, including an Azerbaijani insistence to open a land corridor cutting through southern Armenia.

According to the statement, the Armenian defense minister briefed the Iranian ambassador on “the details about the Azerbaijani provocation near Sotk, on September 1.”

Tensions flared up again between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday, with Yerevan accusing Baku of starting a new provocation that resulted in the killing of four Armenian servicemen. 

In late August, Armenian media quoted the Iranian ambassador to Yerevan as stressing Tehran's support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia.

“Our fundamental policy is to develop relations with the Republic of Armenia. Iran always defends the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia. The two countries have never had any problems in any field or level, especially since Armenia regained its independence,” said Mehdi Sobhani while visiting an economic exhibition in Yerevan.