In a short statement on the call, the Armenian Defense Ministry said they discussed “international and regional security” and “bilateral cooperation.”
“Both sides underscored the importance of enhancing stability and peace in the region,” added the statement.
Iranian news agencies did not immediately report on the conversation that took place less than two months after Nasirzadeh’s visit to Armenia. During that trip, Nasirzadeh said that Iran “will not allow any encroachment” on its common border with Armenia.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly issued such warnings in the face of Azerbaijan’s continuing demands for a land corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave that would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian province bordering the Islamic Republic. The Armenian army and Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), held a first-ever joint exercise along the Armenian-Iranian border in April.
The Armenian government has rejected, at least until now, any arrangement that would call into question full Armenian control over a road and railway connecting Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed over the weekend that Yerevan is now more open to accepting the Azerbaijani demands.
Erdogan met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Istanbul on June 20 amid Armenian opposition and media speculation that the latter could make far-reaching concessions on the issue. Armenian officials dismissed the speculation.
Also, it was reported last week that the United States proposed in late May that Armenian border checks for the transit of people and cargo to and from the Azerbaijani exclave be outsourced to a U.S. company. Iran, which has repeatedly spoken out against the presence of “extra-regional” forces in the South Caucasus, is unlikely to welcome the idea.