TEHRAN – Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the deputy foreign minister of Iran for political affairs, met on Monday with the Armenian Ambassador to Iran Artashes Toumanian to discuss the latest development related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

During the meeting, Toumanian briefed Araghchi on the situation and recent developments in Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh region after the adoption of a trilateral peace deal statement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, Armenia’s embassy said in a statement on Monday.

The statement said the two diplomats exchanged views on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the issues of post-war procedures, the regional and trans-regional actors’ participation, and their future possible roles.

“The direction and aspects of cooperation based on mutual interest and accordance between Armenia and Iran, particularly under the existing complicated circumstances were discussed. Both sides stressed maintaining and fostering the permanent mutual relations and consultative contacts between the circles and authorities in both levels of State and society,” the statement added.

Earlier on Saturday, Toumanian met with Reza Ardakanian, the Iranian Energy Minister and Co-Chair of the Armenia-Iran Intergovernmental Joint Commission.

“During the meeting, the Armenian Ambassador and Iranian Energy Minister discussed the operation of the projects based on the decisions of the Joint Commission, particularly the gas-electricity joint project and both sides’ tasks in this regard to be accomplished by 2020,” the Armenian embassy said in a tweet following the meeting.

Earlier this month, Araghchi traveled to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia, and Turkey to present an Iranian peace initiative with the purpose of putting an end to the Armenia-Azerbaijan war. On November 10, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire agreement, ending a 44-day war that resulted in Azerbaijan liberating its occupied territories.

The ceasefire agreement prompted wild rumors that the Armenia-Iran border was cut off, a claim that was rejected by Araghchi.

“Unfortunately, disinformation and misleading information along with fake maps are being spread in cyberspace. Claims such as cutting Iran's border with Armenia, creating a corridor inside Armenia, or even inside Iran, changing the geopolitics of the region, etc. have been raised but they are fundamentally untrue and being spread for specific political and propaganda purposes,” Araghchi told IRNA.

Araghchi called these rumors “baseless,” saying that “there will be no change in Iran’s transit routes to Armenia or the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

Araghchi himself posted a map on his Telegram channel showing Iran-Armenia borders were intact.

“As can be seen in this map, the much-discussed issue of creating a geographical corridor along the border between Iran and Armenia is completely unfounded,” asserted Araghchi, referring to the map he has published. He also pointed out that the corridor is yet to be completely known.

MS/PA