The Cradle,, November 1, 2022 — The meeting comes a day after Putin hosted Azeri and Armenian leaders to broker a peace settlement over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
On 1 November, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Iranian officials in Tehran to sign cooperation agreements in an effort to bolster bilateral relations.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi welcomed Pashinyan at the Sadabad Palace, where the two discussed common interests and reviewed the ties between both countries, and are scheduled to attend a joint press conference afterward.
According to official reports, the two will sign several cooperation agreements to strengthen relations between Iran and Armenia.
The visit comes on the heels of a recent trip by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Armenia, where he reaffirmed Iran’s opposition to any alteration to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
Armenia and Iran have retained close ties in the cooperative fields of economy and defense throughout the years of geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
The meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister and Iranian President came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to broker a settlement between the two nations after months of violent clashes.
Putin described the meeting as “very useful” and claimed Baku and Yerevan “agreed not to use force” as well as to “settle all disputes solely based on recognition of mutual sovereignty and territorial integration.”
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-old conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In September, a ceasefire between the two nations was implemented to prevent any escalation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. However, Azeri media reported that the ceasefire broke down minutes afterward.
Tehran also voiced concerns over the border dispute between the two countries, urging the two neighbors to exercise restraint and find a peaceful solution in accordance with international law.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, elaborated on how Iran closely monitored all the developments pertaining to the issue and underlined the need to respect the two countries’ territorial integrity.
The conflict has claimed over 6,500 lives on both sides, however, Azerbaijan claims to have been “crushing” the Armenian forces.