TEHRAN- Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has expressed Iran's vehement opposition to any foreign presence in the South Caucasus region, emphasizing that regional cooperation is essential to their shared peace and security.

The senior diplomat made the remarks in a telephone call with Jeyhun Bayramov over the phone on Sunday evening. 

"We regard the regional security to be a contiguous category, and consider the Republic of Azerbaijan’s security to be integrated with that of the region and that of our own," he noted.

The Iranian official said, "We declare our opposition to any deployment of foreign forces in the region and consider it to be in contradiction to the regional peace, stability, and cooperation."

According to him, the Islamic Republic believes that the presence of foreign countries within the region will complicate the present predicament.

Tehran maintains that only "regional mechanisms"—including the 3+3 mechanism of cooperation between regional nations, which brings together the three South Caucasian countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan as well as Russia, Turkey, and Iran—can assist to tackle the region's challenges

Azerbaijan and its estranged neighbor Armenia have long-standing disputes, which the Iranian foreign minister stressed the Islamic Republic will always continue to work to settle.

His remarks came against the backdrop of a bubbling and periodically deadly dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Although Nagorno-Karabakh is widely acknowledged to be a part of Azerbaijan, ethnic Armenians have long inhabited the region.

A recent escalation in the neighborhood's simmering tensions last month resulted in the deaths of over 100 troops on both sides. This was the most recent confrontation between the Caucasus countries since a 44-day war over the region that ended in November 2020 and claimed hundreds of lives.

For his part, the Azeri foreign minister praised Iran for its efforts to promote stability and peace in the region.

Additionally, he expressed Baku's opposition to foreign military presence in the region and emphasized the value of ongoing regional cooperation, especially the 3+3 format.

"We give importance and respect to these relationships," Bayramov said, adding, "Sustained direct communication between the Iranian and Azeri counterparts revealed the depth of the nations' relations."

The Azeri official also expressed happiness over Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's scheduled visit to Baku, calling it an essential step toward furthering bilateral ties.