TEHRAN - Although Iran has maintained its opposition to any geopolitical changes, it has stated its support for the development of regional transportation lines.

In his weekly presser on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, “We support the expansion of transit routes and transportation networks in a way that serves the interests of all regional countries, but at the same time we emphasize that we oppose any change to international borders.”

His comments followed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s allegations that Iran was becoming more open to Turkish-Azerbaijani ambitions to establish a transit corridor from Turkey to Azerbaijan via Armenia.

Through the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the so-called Zangezur corridor seeks to link the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which borders Turkey, to the main territory of the country. Armenia objects to the proposals because they will violate its sovereignty.

“If Armenia does not pave the way for the corridor, where will it pass through? It will pass through Iran,” Erdogan said. “Iran currently considers this positively. So, it would be possible to pass from Iran to Azerbaijan," the Turkish leader claimed.

Tehran has previously objected to the proposal on the grounds that it would sever the transportation links between Iran and neighboring Armenia. Erdogan remarked, “It is pleasing to see positive signals from Iran on this issue,” without going into further detail about the claimed favorable signals emanating from the nation.

Kanaani reiterated Tehran’s position that Iran is in favor of using politics to settle the conflicts in the South Caucasus.

“We believe differences in the Caucasus can be resolved via political dialogue and regional capacities,” he said.

Kananni emphasized that Tehran opposes any extra-regional meddling and foreign presence in the Caucasus.

He pointed out that Iran is willing to assist in resolving the issue and that Tehran favors regional talks within the framework of the 3+3 format mechanism.

The three South Caucasus nations of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are included in the 3+3 framework cooperation mechanism together with Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

Kanaani said that Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia’s national security council, was in Tehran on Sunday to discuss bilateral relations and the most recent Caucasus developments.

Azerbaijan official to arrive in Iran

Kanaani also announced that an Azerbaijani official will travel to Iran, but the specific date will be disclosed later.

He added that the purpose of the visit is to discuss regional developments as well as the re-opening of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran.

“We hope to see the resumption of operations of the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran soon.”

Following an attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran in January, Azerbaijan shuttered its diplomatic mission and withdrew workers in response to what it labeled a “terrorist act,” with President Ilham Aliyev accusing the “Iranian establishment.”

However, personal reasons were behind the attack by a man whose wife was from the Republic of Azerbaijan and wrongly believed she had taken refuge in the embassy.