ArmInfo. The current status quo around Artsakh and the Iran- Artsakh border comes from the interests of Tehran. Vardan Voskanyan, Head of the Department of Oriental Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University, expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
"The Iranians, of course, never express their interest at the diplomatic level, doing this mainly at the expert level, but Iran benefits from the status quo around Artsakh and the situation on the Iran-Artsakh border. And of course, the changes in this status quo in favor of Azerbaijan would not like Tehran," he stressed.
In the opinion of the Iranian, it is neutrality in the Karabakh issue that gives Tehran the opportunity to maintain relations with both Yerevan and Baku, significantly increasing its maneuverability. Noting the desire of the Islamic Republic of Iran to increase the influence in the Karabakh settlement, Voskanyan stressed the invariability of the Minsk format of the talks on Karabakh. The Iranian explains the absence of prospects for changing the composition of the OSCE MG Co-Chairs by the prospect of Turkey's otherwise appearing there with its particular biased position.
From the geopolitical point of view and ensuring regional security, the Iranian assesses the importance of the border between Artsakh and Iran extremely high both for Iran and for Artsakh. In turn, for Tehran, the border with Artsakh is important due to a significant reduction in the influence of Azerbaijan on the north- western provinces of Iran. "Of course, we should not forget about the threat of armed penetration from the side, using the territory of Azerbaijan for anti-Iranian actions, the third forces," the Iranian stressed.
The OSCE Minsk Group has been dealing with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict since 1992, represented by the co-chairs from Russia, the United States and France. Currently, the settlement process is based on the Madrid Principles put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in 2007 and updated in 2009, including, among other things, the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent in the conflict zone.