Iran confirms commitment to resisting bids to alter Caucasus borders
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi underlines its opposition to any attempts to change the borders of the Caucasus states amid tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Iran will counter any attempts at redrawing the borders of states within the Caucasus, the press office of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan quoted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as saying following a phone call between the two leaders.
New tensions erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh on August 3 as three soldiers were killed, and Azerbaijan said it had taken control of several strategic heights in the disputed region.
"Referring to the recent tense incidents in the South Caucasus, the President of Iran mentioned the statement made by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei during the recent meeting with the presidents of Russia and Turkey, that Iran is sensitive about its borders in the Caucasus region and will oppose any attempt to alter them," Pashinyan's press office said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two conflicts over Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated area of Nagorno-Karabakh, one in the 1990s and one in 2020.
Six weeks of violence in the autumn of 2020 claimed over 6,500 lives and ended with a ceasefire accord sponsored by Russia.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed that Karabakh troops attacked Azerbaijani army posts in the district of Lachin, which is overseen by the Russian peacekeeping force, killing an Azerbaijani conscript.
The Azerbaijani troops took multiple heights in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the Defense Ministry's press office, claiming that Armenian forces engaged in sabotage against the Azerbaijani military.
"As a result of the response operation carried out by the units of the Azerbaijan military, several heights in Karabakh were taken under control," the office claimed.
The Russian peacekeepers accused the Azerbaijani military of violating the ceasefire regime, and Armenia reported multiple casualties as a result of Azerbaijani drone strikes.
Raisi and Pashinyan discussed regional processes and relevant security challenges, and the latter gave a nuanced account of the recent border tensions between his country and Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan underlined the importance of implementing the trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan signed on November 9, 2020, and January 11 and November 26, 2021.
According to the press office, Tehran and Yerevan also exchanged views on bilateral relations, with Pashinyan "expressing satisfaction" with their progress. The prime minister also stressed that Armenia stood ready to promote the transit of goods between the two countries to the fullest extent and develop cooperation in road and energy infrastructure as well as in other spheres.
Raisi, on the other hand, hailed Armenian-Iranian ties as "historical and deep", underscoring the need to enhance stable economic cooperation, the press office concluded.
The foreign ministers of both Armenia and Azerbaijan met in mid-July in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in a first direct talk since the outbreak of the war. The meeting reportedly concerned an agreement reached by Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in May, mediated by the EU.
