YEREVAN (Sputnik) – The Iranian Embassy in Yerevan firmly denied on Sunday claims circulated earlier by the Armenian media that 160 Armenian soldiers are allegedly being held by Tehran after crossing the Iranian border during the escalation of the Karabakh conflict in the autumn of 2020.
"The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Republic of Armenia refutes and considers false and groundless information circulating in some Armenian media that 160 Armenian servicemen are in Iran and that the Iranian side has set conditions for their release," the statement issued by the embassy on Facebook said.
Armenian Hraparak newspaper reported earlier, citing sources, that about 160 Armenian servicemen were detained in Iran after the Karabakh conflict escalation. It claimed that their current status and location in Iran are unknown. According to the newspaper, Iran allegedly set some preconditions for their return to Armenia.
The Armenian defence ministry also stated that it has "no information about the presence of even one Armenian soldier in Iran."