During a visit to Yerevan, Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh emphasised that Tehran would ‘not allow any encroachment’ on the Iran–Armenia border.
During his meeting with Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan on Tuesday evening, Nasirzadeh stated that maintaining the territorial integrity and the stability of regional borders was one of the unchanging principles of Iranian policy, noting that Armenia ‘holds a special place’ in Iran’s neighbourhood policy.
He additionally paid attention to the common border between Iran and Armenia, calling it a ‘historical communication route between the two peoples’, with relations between Tehran and Yerevan having been built on ‘solid historical and cultural foundations’.
The following morning, Nasirzadeh planted a symbolic fir tree within the Armenian Defence Ministry’s administrative complex.
Nasirzadeh arrived in Armenia on Tuesday afternoon at the invitation of Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan.
According to a report by the Russian state-run media agency TASS, pro-Western activists staging a protest against Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Yerevan the same day mistook Nasirzadeh’s motorcade for that of Lavrov’s.
Armenia has good relations with Iran — which is one of the two out of four neighbours that Armenia shares an open border — including in defence cooperation.
In April, joint military exercises were held simultaneously on both sides of the Armenia–Iran border for the first time.
‘The main goal of this exercise is to reinforce the security of our shared borders and improve the capabilities of forces deployed in this sensitive region’, Iranian Brigadier General Valliollah Madani said at the time.
The month prior, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan specifically emphasised in an interview with the state-controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that Armenia would ‘not be involved in any action against’ Iran, in response to a question regarding Armenia’s deepening relations with the West.
‘Iran’s stability is extremely important to us, Iran’s development is extremely important to us, and Iran’s security is extremely important to us, and I don't even think there is a need to say why, because it is so obvious’, Pashinyan said.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
