Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi says the country’s foreign policy is based on the basic principle of supporting territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries.

Raeisi made the remarks in a Monday phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during which the two sides discussed development of economic exchanges and cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan.

“The principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries,” Raeisi said. “In doing so, Tehran supports the sovereignty of Armenia over all its territories and means of transportation passing through the country.”

Expressing felicitations on the birthday anniversary of Jesus Christ (PBUH) and the beginning of the Christian New Year, the Iranian president highlighted the necessity of constant interaction and dialogue between the two countries at different levels and among neighbors.

“The sensitivity of the situation in the Caucasus region requires the countries of the region to discuss regional and bilateral issues on a regular basis,” Raeisi added.

Stressing that Tehran welcomes progress in the process of talks between the Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Iranian president said, “We hope that other issues between the two countries will be resolved peacefully within the framework of international principles and law, and that we will see more peace, stability and security in the region.”

Pashinyan, for his part, reaffirmed his country’s resolve to expand multilateral relations with Iran and said, “We are determined to increase economic relations and interactions with Iran in all fields and to make the Iran-Armenia joint economic cooperation commission more active than before.”

The Armenian premier described regional cooperation between the two countries as important and said, “We are confident that by boosting the level of cooperation and bilateral coordination, we can take important steps towards establishment of peace and security in the region.”

Iran has on several occasions voiced concern over tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, urging the two neighbors to exercise restraint and resort to dialogue to resolve differences.

Tensions between Yerevan and Baku remain high a year after the arch-foes fought a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The six-week conflict, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered deal that left Azerbaijan largely in control of the territory.

Since the truce, the two sides have accused each other of breaching the peace deal.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians. 

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/01/03/673983/Iran-President-Ebrahim-Raeisi-Armenian-Prime-Minister-Nikol-Pashinyan-territorial-integrity-sovereignty-