Peace formula in the Caucuses
By Mohsen Pakaein
Caucasus affairs expert
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a phone call on Monday and discussed a range of issues including regional developments. A few hours before that, foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan had a phone conversation. These phone calls are in line with the neighborliness policy pursued by the Raeisi government and show that the expansion of cooperation and ties with neighbors is among its strategic and long-term policies.
The phone call between the top Iranian and Azerbaijani diplomats was aimed at reducing tensions and finding a solution to a dispute sparked by an attack on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in late January this year. The phone conversation also indicates that Iran and Azerbaijan have attached significance to diplomatic approaches to resolve their differences.
It is a good sign that Baku has adopted the path of diplomacy in this regard. Lately, Iran’s sports minister also attended a meeting in Baku and met with his Azerbaijani counterpart. Iran’s minister of roads and urban development also met with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Saint Petersburg. Such developments have raised hopes that the Azerbaijani Embassy will reopen in Tehran.
The significance of the Iranian president’s phone call with Armenia’s premier lies in the fact that Azerbaijan and Armenia are holding talks to resolve their differences and make peace.
Fortunately, both sides have stressed that they respect each other’s territorial integrity. Iran regards this approach as constructive and supports it. Iran also believes that the disputes between Yerevan and Baku can be settled in the framework of preserving their territorial integrity and keeping their borderlines unchanged. On the basis of this formula, Nagorno-Karabakh will rejoin Azerbaijan and Baku will guarantee the rights of its Armenian residents. Likewise, Azerbaijan will open the Lachin corridor to facilitate the movement of Armenians in Karabakh to Armenia. Moreover, the route from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, through Syunik Province, will be reopened.
Hence, not only is their territorial integrity preserved but communication routes remain active.
It seems a major part of talks between Iran and Armenia as well as Azerbaijan revolves around peace talks which are supported by Russia. Baku and Tehran should not allow trans-regional countries to interfere in the affairs of the region.