Statement Comes After Iran’s Stern Warning to Azerbaijan

Tehran warned on Thursday that it will use what it called “strong resistance” to any efforts to damage or alter the border between Iran and Armenia, reiterating the country’s long-held and often expressed position.

This comes a day after Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Abdullah warned his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov that the “historic border between Iran and Armenia” must remain unscathed and the territorial integrity of all nations must be respected.

He also voiced concern to Baku about the escalation of military actions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and urged Bayarmov to address the situation through dialogue and diplomacy

“Iran has resolutely and in various levels expressed its position regarding the ongoing developments in the Caucasus region and its relations with two neighboring countries,” Iran’s Embassy in Armenia said in a statement to Channel 1.

“As we saw in the news reports covering the meetings between the Supreme Leader of the Revolution and the Presidents of Russia and Turkey, Iran opposes the violation of territorial integrity and borders of neighboring countries and will display special resistance to any scenario which would damage the Iran-Armenia border – the historic route connecting two neighboring peoples. Our principled position has been repeated during telephone calls between the President of Iran and the Prime Minister of Armenia, as well as the foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan,” the Iranian embassy said.

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei unequivocally told the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that any effort to change the border between Armenia and Iran is unacceptable.

It is widely believed that Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia this week was to forcibly secure a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan proper to Nakhichevan and Turkey through Armenia. Baku has advanced this notion, with the vocal support of Turkey, while Armenia has rejected such a move. Moscow has also called for respect toward the countries’ territorial integrity.