Iran Ready to Help Settle Caucasus Conflict: President

Raisi made the remarks in separate meetings with Armen Grigoryan, secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, and Khalaf Khalafov, special representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s president, in Tehran on Wednesday, amid persisting tensions over the Negro-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan took full control of the breakaway region last month following a 24-hour military operation against pro-Armenian forces.

Now speculation is rife that Azerbaijan might use force to open a corridor connecting the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to mainland Azerbaijan through the southern Armenian province of Syunik.

Armenia opposes the plan on the grounds that it would violate its sovereignty. Iran has supported Armenia’s position, stressing that the territorial integrity of countries must be respected.

Raisi argued the Zangezur Corridor allows external powers to make inroads into the region and undermine the interests of nations there, Press TV reported.

“In both meetings, the president stated that a Zangezur corridor would be a NATO foothold, a national security threat for countries, and is thus resolutely opposed by Iran,” said Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, in a post on X social media network.

Raisi also told the two officials that Iran believes the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia must be resolved through talks.

He said Iran is ready to help pave the way for the settlement of disputes between the two countries and promote peace in the region.

Armen Grigoryan, the secretary of Armenia’s Supreme National Security Council, hailed Iran’s call for respecting the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the region, and said his country attaches special importance to its relations with Iran.

Khalaf Khalafov, the representative of Azerbaijan’s president on special assignments, said Baku believes problems in the region must be settled through cooperation and dialogue between regional countries, and that other countries should not be allowed to make inroads into the region.

Negro-Karabakh, acknowledged as a part of Azerbaijan by the international community but populated by Armenians since 1992 when a separatist war broke out, has been the source of a dispute between Baku and Yerevan for more than three decades.

After Azerbaijan eventually took back the region, most of ethnic Armenians living there have left.

Iran has urged Azerbaijan to respect the rights of Armenians living in the Negro-Karabakh region.