Armenia Reassures Iran As Tehran-Baku Tensions Mount

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry rejected Tehran’s “baseless” claims. “Unfortunately, friendly Iran never condemned the [Armenian] occupation of our territory just as resolutely,” said a ministry spokeswoman.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticized the Iranian war games on September 27. He also said Baku set up the roadblock on the Armenia-Iran highway because Tehran ignored its repeated warnings to stop Iranian trucks from shipping cargo to Karabakh.

The road mostly passes through Armenia southeastern Syunik province which is sandwiched between Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave and also borders Iran. Earlier this year, Aliyev threatened to forcibly open a transport corridor to Nakhichevan, drawing strong condemnation from Armenia.

Mojtaba Zonnouri, a senior Iranian parliamentarian, on Monday accused Aliyev of trying to “cut Iran’s access to Armenia” with the help of Turkey and Israel. The official IRNA news agency quoted Zonnouri as warning that Azerbaijan and Turkey “will pay a big price if they pose a threat to Iran.”

Zonnouri was apparently among 165 members of the Iranian parliament who issued a joint statement on Sunday saying that the Islamic Republic would not tolerate “any geopolitical change and alteration of the borders of neighboring countries.”

On September 28, a conservative Iranian newspaper reputedly controlled by Khamenei’s office published a commentary that accused Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of helping the United States and Israel to hatch a geopolitical “plot” against Iran and Russia.

A columnist for the Kayhan newspaper also charged that Pashinyan has joined the “hidden alliance” of the four states and is willing to “cede Syunik province to Azerbaijan.”

The Armenian prime minister responded to the allegation on Sunday at the start of an official visit to Lithuania.

“It is no secret that there are some circles that manage from time to time to publish articles in the Iranian press saying that Armenia is involved in some conspiracies against Iran,” Pashinyan told members of the Armenian community in the Baltic state.

“I am sure our Iranian colleagues know that Armenia has never been involved and will never be involved in a conspiracy against Iran because those relations [between Armenia and Iran] are extremely important to us.”

Pashinyan has been facing similar allegations from his political opponents and other critics at home. They have deplored his failure to explicitly condemn Baku’s decision to start taxing Iranian vehicles.

Pashinyan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed the Armenia-Iran traffic disruptions when they met in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on September 17.

Amir-Abdollahian was reported to expressed hope on Monday that Yerevan will speed up the ongoing reconstruction of an alternative Syunik highway that will allow Iranian drivers to bypass the Azerbaijani checkpoint. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan said last week that the roadwork will be completed by the end of November.

Meanwhile, the Iranian army drills continued on Monday, involving special forces, heavy artillery, tanks and helicopter gunships. Images aired by Iranian television suggested that they are taking place on Iran border with Nakhichevan.

In what may be a related development, Turkish media reported that Azerbaijani and Turkish troops will start on Tuesday joint exercises in Nakhichevan.