10:42, 5 October 2023

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Any geopolitical change in the South Caucasus would be unacceptable for Iran, President Ebrahim Raisi has said.

Raisi made the remarks during separate meetings in Tehran with Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan and Khalaf Aly Oghlu Khalafov, the special representative of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, IRNA reports.

During talks with Secretary Grigoryan, President Raisi ‘stressed the importance of respecting the territorial integrity of the countries in the Caucasus, and announced Iran’s readiness to cooperate on improving peace and security in that region’, according to IRNA.

Raisi also rejected any geopolitical change in the Caucasus, calling it harmful to the interests of the regional countries.

He stressed the need for protecting the rights of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and announced Iran’s readiness to help Armenia and Azerbaijan resolve their standoff through dialogue. The Iranian president made similar comments during talks with Khalaf Aly Oghlu Khalafov, the special representative of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Raisi said that protecting and improving stability in the Caucasus depends on the cooperation of regional countries which he said are capable of resolving regional issues.

He added that the presence of extra-regional countries under any excuse does not benefit regional nations, and that the region’s geopolitics should remain unchanged.