TEHRAN- Head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi held talks on Tuesday with high-profile Armenian officials, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, to review the expansion of Tehran and Yerevan ties in several spheres.

Underscoring the vitality of Kharrazi’s visit to his country, Pashinyan expressed optimism that Kharrazi’s visit will open a new chapter for more growth in the development and consolidation of ties between the two nations.

During the meeting, the two officials reviewed numerous issues including bilateral political and economic ties, cooperation in the field of energy and infrastructure, implementation of joint projects and other areas of cooperation as well. 

Other issues pertinent to security, peace and sustainable stability in the South Caucasus were also discussed during the visit.  

Pashinyan hailed Tehran’s positive stance on the “Crossroads of Peace” project, which was developed at the initiative of the Armenian government in a bid to remove infrastructure blockages in the region.

Prior to the visit, Kharrazi met with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to talk about the various fields of cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan. 

They also underscored the momentum of mutual coordination in the sphere of energy, infrastructure, economy and the implementation of joint projects to further fortify the friendship between the two nations and maintain stability in the region.

On October 31, 2023, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration met with his Armenian counterpart in Moscow to discuss boosting cooperation in border issues.

During the talks, which were held on the sidelines of the annual International Customs Forum, the two sides discussed measures to increase the acceptance of trucks importing and exporting commodities and to promote transit on the joint border crossings.

Exchanging information electronically and developing the area of customs in the borders were also among the topics agreed upon by the officials.

The two officials also exchanged views about the acceleration and facilitation of trade affairs between Tehran and Yerevan.

After the talks, the two sides also agreed to hold expert meetings continuously to pursue the implementation of agreements. 

Last year, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in a phone call with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, exchanged views on the most important issues in bilateral, regional, and international fields.

Amir Abdollahian referred to the depth of Iran-Azerbaijan relations and described the recent meeting between the presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in the Kazakh capital as important, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

Referring to the recent developments in the Caucasus region, the Iranian foreign minister emphasized supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries including the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, stressing that the approach is the permanent policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iranian concerns over the international borders in the South Caucasus region has exacerbated since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Since then, Iran has been warning that it will not accept any change in the borders in the region.