TEHRAN- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has asserted that Tehran is strongly opposed to the so-called proposed Zangezur corridor seeking to link the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which borders Turkey, to the main territory of the country.

Raisi made the comments in a meeting with the Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan on Wednesday in Tehran. Reiterating Iran’s stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Raisi emphasized that the Zangezur corridor is a platform for NATO presence in the region and a threat to the national security of countries,

which the Islamic Republic firmly is at loggerheads with. Grigoryan presented detailed reports about the Caucasus during the meeting.

Military chief says Iran ready to send observers to Armenia-Azerbaijan border

In order to ease tensions between the two northwestern neighbors, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces has also offered that Iran is ready to send observers to the border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Also, during a meeting with Grigoryan on Wednesday in Tehran, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri also warned that the continuation of tensions in the South Caucasus region will be detrimental to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other nearby countries.

During a meeting with Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan on Wednesday in Tehran, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri also warned that the continuation of tensions in the South Caucasus region will be detrimental to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other nearby countries.

The senior general emphasized the need to make efforts to address the conflicts and tensions in the South Caucasus and pointed out that Iran is ready to assist in doing so.

The events and security challenges in the South Caucasus would have an impact on the entire region’s security, Major General Baqeri said, emphasizing that a country’s defensive and military capabilities should not be expanded for offensive purposes.

The Iranian general added, “Peace and calm in the region would benefit all countries. The regional security must be ensured by the regional countries, as the presence of extra-regional forces upsets regional calm.”

The commander encouraged the regional governments to resolve issues via negotiation, warning against the outsiders’ strategy of sowing discord and causing disturbance in the region.

General Baqeri also commented on a recent joint military drill between Armenia and the United States, saying, “The presence of new actors from outside the region will add to complication and instability.”

In September Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi assured Armenia that the Islamic Republic as a powerful neighbor opposes any alteration to the regional boundaries and is ready to play an effective role to avert regional conflicts or geopolitical changes.

The comments by Raisi came amid reports that Azerbaijan may try to link mainland Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the Armenia province of Syunik.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a bloody conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades. Internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, it had been home to an ethnic Armenian population for centuries. As the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980s into the early 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenians tried to break away from Azerbaijan, declaring independence.

A bloody war, in which Armenia aided the separatists, saw hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani civilians also driven out of the region and ended with ethnic Armenians controlling most of Nagorno-Karabakh with their own unrecognized state.

But Azerbaijan reopened the conflict in 2020, starting a full-scale war that decisively defeated Armenia and ended with a truce deal brokered by Russia, which deployed peacekeepers to enforce it.

Two weeks ago, after blockading the enclave for nine months, Azerbaijan launched a new offensive, swiftly defeating the ethnic Armenian authorities in two days. The enclave's population started fleeing shortly afterward to Armenia.

‘Caucasus dispute can be solved through 3+3 format’

In a meeting with Grigoryan on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian emphasized the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the South Caucasus countries, noting that the 3+3 format is a viable method for settling conflicts in the Caucasus region without outside intervention.

The 3+3 format includes the three Caucasian nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia plus Iran, Russia and Turkey.

Amir Abdollahian reiterated the Islamic Republic’s steadfast commitment to upholding regional nations’ territorial integrity and international borders.

The senior Iranian diplomat stressed the significance of collaboration among regional nations in resolving regional concerns, referring to the 3+3 format as an “effective mechanism to resolve regional issues without the interference of foreign powers.”

Amir Abdollahian also stated that Iran is prepared to deliver humanitarian aid to the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked, contentious territory in the Caucasus that is located within Azerbaijan’s boundaries.

In a report on October 2, ABC News reported that virtually the entire ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh has fled, with the last buses carrying refugees having left on October 2, according to Russia's peacekeeping force deployed there.

More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians left the enclave in the last week, according to local officials, abandoning their homes after Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, recaptured the region.

The exodus has emptied the enclave in what Armenia has condemned as "ethnic cleansing."

A television news crew from Al Jazeera showed the region's capital, known to Armenians as Stepanakert, completely deserted. The city, which had a population estimated at more than 50,000, appeared now to be a ghost town. The Al Jazeera crew showed the city's central square abandoned and strewn with empty chairs, used by people waiting for evacuation.

Before Azerbaijan's offensive, the enclave's population was estimated at 120,000. But a spokesperson for the Karabakh Armenians' unrecognized state's emergency services ministry on Sunday said only a tiny handful of people now remained in the enclave.

Iran has so far sent more than 50 tons of humanitarian supplies, including tents, blankets, food, heaters, sanitary kits, and other necessities for displaced persons.

Delight over growing Iran-Armenia ties

During the meeting, Amir Abdollahian also expressed delight with the developing trend of Iran-Armenia ties and expressed confidence that by speeding up the implementation of joint agreements, the volume of commerce between the two countries will reach the desired level of three billion dollars.

The Iranian foreign minister also stressed the importance of developing a comprehensive and long-term cooperation pact to broaden and strengthen ties.

Grigoryan, for his part, praised the two nations’ developing economic ties in accordance with the aims set by Tehran and Yerevan.

The Armenian security chief also thanked Iran for taking a principled stand toward Armenia’s territorial integrity and welcomed talks within the 3+3 framework.

“Armenia is determined to expand and deepen its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Grigoryan said, adding, “It regards as important and constructive Iran’s role in the developments in the South Caucasus and the establishment of lasting peace in the region.”