By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian office on Sunday announced that he will be on a two-day visit to Armenia and Belarus, media reported.
The announcement was made by Mehdi Sanaei, political advisor to Iran’s President, in a post on the social media platform X.
Sanaei said improving bilateral relations with Armenia and Belarus, in the trade area, and signing cooperation documents would be on the President’s agenda during the visits, adding that the trips had been scheduled for late June but were postponed.
Pezeshkian’s visit to Armenia is expected to take place as Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had fought 2 wars over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region since 1988, met in Washington DC and signed a peace agreement on August 8.
The peace agreement included a deal to create a transit corridor across southern Armenia, with the project’s exclusive development rights granted to the United States, media reported.
Iran has voiced opposition to the trans regional players’ presence in the region and warned against any changes to the region’s geopolitics and historical borders.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi exchanged views on the latest developments in the Caucasus with senior Russian and Armenian diplomats.
Igor Khovaev, Russia’s special representative for the normalization of ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Vahan Kostanyan, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Araghchi in two separate meetings discussed bilateral relations with the two countries, according to statements released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Araghchi underlined Iran’s principled position of supporting the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, highlighted the necessity to peacefully resolve regional issues through efforts by the countries of the region and in the absence of foreign interference, the statement said.
He called for using regional mechanisms to resolve regional issues, promoting cooperation and convergence in the region, and guaranteeing the security and collective interests of countries in the Caucasus.
Araghchi said Iran and Russia adopted similar positions on important regional and international issues, stressing the need to continue and promote bilateral consultations and cooperation to safeguard their shared interests.
Igor Khovaev presented a report of his country’s diplomatic efforts to ensure peace and calm in the Caucasus, underlining the importance of continuous and close consultations, coordination and interaction between Russia and Iran.
Araghchi underlined that the unblocking of transit routes in the region should take place while respecting regional countries’ national sovereignty and territorial integrity and observing their interests and considerations in his meeting with the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister.
He said no plan to unblock transit routes should lead to geopolitical changes in the region or the disruption of connection routes between other countries, stressing that regional states would benefit from any peace agreement in the region.
