Iran ready to help prevent geopolitical changes in Caucasus

In a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, Raeisi said Iran, as a powerful neighbor of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, strongly opposes any new tension and change in the historical borders in the region.

He once again reiterated Iran’s support for territorial integrity of all the countries in the region, expressing Tehran’s preparedness to help resolve regional issues through “diplomatic” dialogue.

Iran believes that regional problems should be settled through negotiations among the countries in the region, Raeisi said.

The president said Iran is resolutely opposed to the involvement of foreign actors in the developments pertaining to the Caucasus.

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Thursday of amassing troops close to their joint border as tensions continue to rise over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Located in the South Caucasus, the landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia for more than three decades.

Since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, the two neighboring countries have fought two wars, in 1994 and 2020, over the mountainous territory.

Karabakh, while acknowledged as a part of Azerbaijan by the international community, has a predominantly Armenian population that has persistently opposed Azerbaijani governance since a separatist war in 1994.

Tensions remain high and skirmishes along the shared border are a regular occurrence despite mediation efforts by the European Union, the United States and Russia.