Iran and Russia have diverging interests in the South Caucasus, said Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, reports Azatutyun.
“We are not allies. We have some differences, and we have some mutual interests. It doesn’t mean that we are allies,” said Sobhani as quoted by the New York Times in an article published on Tuesday.
Despite their growing military cooperation and standoffs with the West, Moscow and Tehran appear to disagree on Azerbaijan’s demands for a transport corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering Iran. Iran fears that such an extraterritorial corridor would cut off its common border with Armenia.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sparked strong reactions from Iran with his August 19 statement accusing Armenia of “sabotaging” a Russian-brokered agreement to build a highway and railway connecting Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan via Syunik. In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador in Tehran, warning Moscow against contributing to any “geopolitical changes” in the region.
In September, the Russian Foreign Ministry downplayed the tensions, stating that it had clarified its position to the Iranian side regarding renewed calls for the transport corridor also sought by Turkey. The ministry emphasized that Moscow is not pursuing any arrangements that would alter the “existing geopolitical borders” or compromise Armenia’s territorial integrity.
“We cannot accept the change of the international border,” Sobhani reiterated to The New York Times.
When asked about Iran’s response if Azerbaijan attempted to invade Armenia to forcibly open the corridor, the envoy replied, “It will not happen.”
The mayor of Agarak, a small Armenian town near Iran’s border, told the NYT that he has discussed the issue with unnamed Iranian officials. “They all confirm that if, God forbid, someone attacks Syunik, we will fight alongside you,” said Khachatur Andreasyan.
Russian officials insist that their goal is for Armenia to comply with Paragraph 9 of a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). This clause stipulates that Yerevan must “guarantee the security of transport links” between Nakhichevan and the rest of Azerbaijan, with Russian border guards “controlling” the movement of people, vehicles, and goods through Syunik.
Baku demands that this traffic be exempted from Armenian border controls, a position Yerevan firmly rejects. Armenian officials also maintain that the ceasefire agreement does not authorize Russian border guards to escort the traffic or conduct border checks.
The New York Times article also highlighted Armenian concerns that a potential tightening of U.S. policy towards Iran during a second presidency of Donald Trump would embolden Azerbaijan.
“If the current conflict between Iran and Israel, fueled by fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, escalates into a full-scale war, they [Armenians] also worry that Tehran would be less able to protect Armenia,” it noted.
