The visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif first to Baku and then to Yerevan, was significant for two reasons. The first of them, of course, was the assessment of Baku’s provocations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and their possible risks. The second reason, in fact, comes out of the first; the visit was not planned in advance. There is a third circumstance, but at least it was not spoken about openly.
The problem refers to the South-North transport corridor, and more specifically, a ‘strange’ circumstance. Any development, related to the ‘corridor’, be it the visit of the Iranian delegation or the Prime Minister of Georgia, almost immediately leads to the organization of border provocations by Azerbaijan. This has already led many experts to conclude that Baku’s actions, particularly in Syunik, in short terms have only and exclusively one purpose - to thwart the plans of the ‘corridor’ to pass through Armenia.
In this context, it is noteworthy that Iran is not only not going to back down from its intentions, but from time to time intensifies its rhetoric, claiming that Armenia’s territorial integrity is the red line beyond which no one is allowed to cross.
“We want peace in the region. And we have always emphasized territorial integrity, sovereignty and the peaceful resolution of crises, and the Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great importance to respect for international law. In this context, three visits were made from our country to Armenia to resolve the recent escalations. I paid my first visit, after me, our special representative envoy visited Armenia, and now I am visiting Armenia again. I am sorry that you had a victim due to the aggravation of this new situation. Yesterday I had a very meaningful and detailed conversation with the President of Azerbaijan, I hope that these meetings, as well as the meeting with my colleague, will be able to contribute to resolving this crisis,” says Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of Iran.
Both before this meeting and during it, the position of the Armenian side was and remained unchanged. Armenia does not want a new war, but the Azerbaijani armed forces must leave the sovereign territory of Armenia without any preconditions, and also return all the captives without preconditions.
“The units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have illegally crossed the border of Armenia in several parts. Our position is unequivocal that the units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces should leave our territory. We are making political and diplomatic efforts for this, first of all, because our CSTO partners have been urging us from the very first days to resolve the issue first of all politically, through diplomacy,” says Nikol Pashinyan, Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.
It is clear, however, that the agenda of the talks was dictated by the projects that are of vital importance not only for Iran but also for Armenia. Let us repeat we are talking about the South-North transport corridor, on which the Iranian side is working quite intensively with Yerevan and, at least judging by Zarif’s comments, there are already substantive agreements.
“I hope that after the end of this pandemic we will be able to further develop bilateral relations in the economic sphere. The existence of the Meghri free economic zone, as well as the Iran-Nakhichevan-Armenia railway, can be very effective for both countries. A good agreement has been reached. And I hope we will be able to ensure an active presence in Syunik province in the near future. This is the importance we give to bilateral relations. I had a strategic dialogue with Armenia’s partners, and our representative, our negotiator will come to Armenia at the first opportunity and will continue that dialogue,” Mohammad Javad Zarif says.
The negotiator, apparently, will not be long waited for. Presidential elections are scheduled in Iran in the near future, the results of which, at least at the moment, are very vague. Despite these results, incumbent Iranian President Rouhani has set himself the task of completing the deal of the century with China, part of which is the ‘South-North’ transport corridor. And this means that in the near future Yerevan may have many guests from Iran.
