TEHRAN — In an exclusive interview with the Tasnim news agency released on Wednesday, Armenia’s secretary of National Security Council has expressed his take on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Armen Gregorian said that there have been many accusations against the Pashinyan government in various fields. 

“We have always stated that our government is Armenian and we are taking steps to serve the interests of Armenia, and in this regard, I can point out that it is in Armenia's interest to develop the relationship between Iran and Armenia,” he said. 

Here are some excerpts:

Since 2018, the Armenian government has sought to expand its security, economic, political, and cultural relations with Iran. After the formation of his new government in 2020, Pashinyan announced that Yerevan was ready to have strategic relations with Iran and was working towards this policy. These positive developments in the relations between Armenia and Iran are proof of this statement and policy.

In addition, various officials of Iran and Armenia meet regularly, which indicates the positive development of relations between the two countries. The development of relations between the two countries shows that the accusations made about the relations between the two countries are not true.

There is no mention of a corridor in our negotiations

After the signing of the tripartite declaration on firearms, various ambiguities have been raised on various issues, not only this declaration but also the war itself has had a great impact on the region. This war paved the way for the presence of terrorists in the region and created an opportunity for terrorists and the armed forces of some countries.

The presence of these terrorists has caused insecurity in our region. We have always warned others about these points, but these warnings issued by Armenia did not help them to prevent terrorists and armed people from entering the region.

As for removing the blockade on economic routes in the region, I must say that this issue was raised and emphasized both in the November statement and in the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan held in Russia on January 11. I want to emphasize with confidence that there is no mention of the corridor in either the statement or in the meetings.

On the contrary, the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated that an issue has been raised about this corridor. I would like to emphasize that Armenia has never said, does not, and will not say anything about the corridor, and has never negotiated and will never negotiate on the corridor.

All communication routes between Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan will be under the control of Armenia

Armenia is ready to open the existing roads in the country for transportation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkey, but all these roads are under the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia. We have talked about this openly both in the media and in meetings with colleagues.

Regarding Aliyev's remarks, it should be said that he tries to say things that are outside the scope of the negotiations, which will never help the development of the negotiations and will not have a positive effect.

Regarding Aliyev's remarks, I must say that the Armenian Armed Forces are ready to defend the country's territorial integrity and security. Armenia will not allow border changes in the region; in this case, we can clearly say that there is an international consensus on this.

I would like to make it clear once again that the government of the Republic of Armenia has never negotiated on the territory and sovereignty of Armenia. We have not and will not have any negotiations on the right of sovereignty and territory belonging to Armenia.

Nakhchivan is part of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. If Azerbaijan intends to equate these corridors, it is as if it recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Armenia, which means that when the Azerbaijani side looks at these two corridors on the same level, it means that as Armenia recognizes Nakhchivan as the territory of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan also recognizes Karabakh as part of the territory of Armenia.

SA/PA