Monday, July 25 2022 17:13

ArmInfo. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's statement about the inadmissibility of blocking the border with Armenia, made on the sidelines of the trilateral summit  of the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran, had only one addressee  and, that was Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Andrey Areshev, an expert on the  South Caucasus, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"Among other things, in the South Caucasus, Khamenei's statement as  a whole reflects a rather complicated range of political relations  between Ankara and Tehran. And this is another attempt by Tehran to  resolve conflict situations, including through a message to the  Turkish president about the inadmissibility of further escalating  tension on the border of Armenia and Iran," he said.  According to  Areshev, the attempts of Baku and Ankara to establish communications  by laying an extraterritorial corridor through the Syunik region of  Armenia cause Tehran's legitimate concern. And the signs of a  military escalation on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border in  August-September last year eventually transformed into more active  diplomatic and political activity.

However, according to the expert, all this does not rule out more  radical steps by Iran in the direction of Turkey and Azerbaijan in  case of escalation of tension. And Tehran's statement made by  Khamenei was yet another reminder of the unacceptability for Tehran  to deploy international terrorists or Israeli troops on its northern  borders.  Commenting on the final statement of the Tehran summit  regarding the expansion of the trilateral format of cooperation  beyond Syria, Areshev noted that its expansion in the Caucasus  direction is not only desirable, but also necessary. And, for  example, the same Iran is actively trying today to establish active  economic ties with both Azerbaijan and Armenia.  

" In this sense, the South Caucasus is quite an important region.  And, of course, from the point of view of the ongoing negotiations on  the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, it should be admitted  that a number of important issues for Turkey, Iran and Russia are  related to the current problems in the Caucasus.  As far as I  understand, there are already agreements in this regard between the  leaders of the Russian Federation, Iran and Turkey. Let's see how  they will be implemented in practice," the Russian expert concluded.