Official Tehran`s position on borders conservative and coherent -  Russian expert 

ArmInfo. Official Tehran has a fairly consistent and conservative position on the issue of revising borders. This is how Russian political scientist Sergei Markedonov commented on the speech of Iranian PresidentMasoud Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly, analyzing Iranian approaches to the conflict in Ukraine and Eurasian security.

The expert noted that before the passions over the words of Turkish  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about supporting the territorial  integrity of Ukraine had even died down, another partner of Russia,  Iran, gave a new news item.

"The recently elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, on the  sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, said: "We are ready  to sit down at the same table with the Europeans and Americans for  dialogue and negotiations. We have never approved of Russian  aggression against Ukrainian territory," Markedonov recalled.

At the same time, the Russian political scientist believes that  Pezeshkian's statement should not be viewed as a sensation or as an  impromptu speech by a supposedly pro-Western politician, since Tehran  has always been consistent on the issue of the inviolability of the  borders of other states.

"Iran has repeatedly and publicly stated that it does not recognize  the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Back in 2023, the  then head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hossein Amir Abdolakhian,  stated that despite its friendship with Moscow, his country does not  recognize Crimea, Donbass, and the "new regions" within the Russian  Federation. And although relations between Tehran and Baku have  always been controversial and complex, the Iranians have not even  hinted at recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh, but on the contrary,  supported its integration into Azerbaijan. Tehran's pathos in this  direction today is as follows: do not touch the integrity and borders  of Armenia. Thus, there is a consistency of principles," Markedonov  noted. At the same time, the political scientist believes that Iran  has a reputation as almost an enemy of the West and the "Zionist  regime" number 1, but at the same time there is a demand for dialogue  with the United States and its allies in society and politics.  According to him, Pezeshkian, Rafsanjani, Khatami, and Rouhani wanted  to speak with the West, but in the language of their national  interests.

"And today Tehran would like to enter into a modus vivendi with the  US and the EU.  If circumstances allow, it will not ask Moscow. In  2014, the famous Iranian expert Kayhan Barzegar introduced a very  precise metaphor to describe the Iranian policy towards the Ukrainian  crisis - "active neutrality". As they say, receive and sign. Let's  add to this the perception that Iranian politicians and diplomats  have. Many in Iran consider Moscow's positions in the Caucasus and in  Eurasia as a whole to be less strong than 5 or 10 years ago. It is  possible not to see this, but is it useful for the present case? A  rhetorical question, however," the expert added.

In conclusion, the Russian political scientist advised reading  Iranian experts, noting that Moscow's constructors of meanings can  talk as much as they like about Russia today as the leader of the  Global South, but their Tehran colleagues think somewhat differently.  "Russia (especially in historical retrospect) is viewed as an  imperial offensive power. Let us recall that none other than Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad, a tough opponent of the West and a conservative,  demanded compensation for the joint "Soviet-British occupation" of  his country. And we haven't even talked about the "constitutional  revolution" of the early 20th century," Markedonov summed up.