ArmInfo. The involvement of Iran in South Caucasian affairs, in general, and in the settlement of the Artsakh conflict, in particular, will balance Turkey's presence in the region. Vardan Voskanyan, head of the Department of Iranian Studies at Yerevan State University, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"Without a doubt, Tehran is trying in every possible way to integrate into practically all processes taking place in our region today. One of which today is the settlement of the Artsakh conflict and the prospects opening up in this regard. And, in my opinion, Moscow is to a certain extent." "Iran is interested in returning to the region," he stressed.
On February 10, the speaker of the Iranian parliament following his visit to Moscow, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, announced the start of Tehran's negotiations on joining the Eurasian Economic Union. Note that between Tehran and the EAEU, the Agreement on a Free Trade Zone, signed in October 2019 in Yerevan, is already in force. Before the speaker of the Iranian parliament, the head of Iranian diplomacy, Mohammad Javad Zarif, visited Moscow.
According to the Iranian scholar, this aspiration of the Iranians in general meets with a positive response in Moscow. This, in his opinion, is evidenced by the statements made following the Moscow voyages of the first Iranian officials. According to Voskanyan, in particular, by doing so, Russia seeks to balance the Turkish presence in the South Caucasus and in the settlement of the Artsakh problem.
Voskanyan named the process of unblocking regional communications initiated following the results of the war in Artsakh as another reason for Tehran's concern over its growing isolation from regional processes. According to the expert, in general, the Iranians are in favor of the implementation of this program. "However, Iran opposes the creation of any corridor linking Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan with Turkey. And the recent visits of the Iranian negotiators to Moscow, among other things, reflect this concern. The statement of the Iranian speaker about Iran's desire to join the EAEU is part of the general negotiation process between Tehran and Moscow. It is necessary to understand the degree of Russia's interest in expanding the boundaries of the Eurasian integration project beyond the borders of the post-Soviet space, "the Iranian scholar concluded.