Iran: Time to promote peace, cooperation in Caucasus
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said today is a historic opportunity for all countries of the region as the “war in the Caucasus region is now over and the time has come for peace, cooperation and progress”.
Addressing a meeting of the 3+3 cooperation format on Monday, the Iranian foreign minister said the meeting aims to use the capacities of the region to resolve issues, establish peace and expand cooperation with the aim of promoting the region’s economy and people’s welfare.
The meeting, dubbed “Time for Peace, Cooperation, and Progress in the South Caucasus,” was attended by the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey and Iran. The 3+3 consultative platform, which first held talks in 2021 in Moscow, was established in an attempt to resolve regional problems through the inclusion of regional countries and the exclusion of extra-regional countries.
The platform was to include Georgia, but Georgia has stated previously it did not plan to participate in the initiative and said on Sunday it would not participate in the meeting in Tehran.
The Iranian foreign minister expressed hope for the “constructive and effective presence of the friendly country of Georgia” in future meetings.
Monday’s meeting was overshadowed with the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The two countries have fought two wars in the past three decades over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and have so far failed to reach a peace deal despite long-running efforts by the United States, EU and Russia.
The land-locked region has always been internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, although it is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians. Azerbaijan won the 2020 war, regaining much of Nagorno-Karabakh. Another battle in September left the entire territory under the control of the Baku government, after months of blockade. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians were forced to flee, and Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of carrying out ethnic cleansing – a claim Azerbaijan denies, saying people were free to stay and be integrated into Azerbaijan. Before the meeting, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia held separate meetings with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. During the meetings, Raisi said that Iran is ready to help resolve the disputes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Raisi told the Armenian foreign minister that Iran considers extra-regional interference detrimental to regional peace and stability.