Bilateral Armenian-Iranian relations were also on the agenda of Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanian’s talks in the Iranian capital, according to their official readouts released on Tuesday.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry cited Araghchi as praising the “very good relations and extensive cooperation” between the two neighboring nations.
“Araghchi emphasized the current Iranian administration’s determination to further develop and deepen bilateral ties with Armenia, considering them beneficial for both nations and essential for sustainable peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” read a ministry statement on his meeting with Kostanian.
“He also declared the Islamic Republic of Iran's readiness to assist in achieving peace and maintaining stability and security in the region,” it said.
Kostanian held separate meetings with one of Araghchi’s deputies, Majid Takht Ravanchi, as well as senior aides to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian. Ravanchi tweeted afterwards that Tehran and Yerevan are “determined to strengthen ties in numerous areas.”
“Vahan Kostanian briefed his counterpart on the latest developments in the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, stressing that Armenia is committed to the peace agenda and expects the same from Azerbaijan,” reported the Armenian Foreign Ministry. “In this context, the importance of steps aimed at increasing Armenia's resilience was highlighted.”
Kostanian flew to Tehran less than two weeks after Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, visited Yerevan for talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Ahmadian arrived in the Armenian capital from Baku where he met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The meeting took place the day after Aliyev renewed his threats to forcibly open a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave through Syunik, the only Armenian province bordering Iran.
Pashinian and Ahmadian discussed, among other things, Yerevan’s “Crossroads of Peace” project designed to serve as a blueprint for opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to travel and commerce. The project says that Armenia and Azerbaijan should have full control of transport infrastructure inside each other’s territory.
Baku insists on an extraterritorial corridor that would exempt people and cargo transported to and from Nakhichevan from Armenian border checks. Tehran is strongly opposed to the so-called “Zangezur corridor.” It has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of transport links or the common border with Armenia.