Caucasus region is key ‘security axis’ for region, especially Iran, Russia: Analyst

By Ali Ghorban Bagheri

Iran’s concerns over the escalation of tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia are legitimate because security in the Caucasus region is tied to regional security, says a political analyst.

Mohammadali Abo Haroon, a political analyst and author based in Iraq, in conversation with the Press TV website, expounded on the situation in the Caucasus and the role of external hostile entities in changing the geopolitical landscape.

“Iran's position on the security of the Caucasus region is clear as it considers it the security of the region,” Haroon stated, adding that Tehran has always strived to ease tensions between estranged neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi said his country was ready to play an effective role in preventing new confrontation in the region and any geopolitical changes in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

President Raeisi reiterated Iran's support for the territorial integrity of all regional countries.

Situated in the South Caucasus, the landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the heart of a long-running dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two countries have fought two wars, in 1994 and 2020, over the mountainous territory.

Tensions continue to flare up occasionally and border skirmishes are also a common phenomenon despite mediation efforts by Russia and other entities.

Azerbaijan’s defense minister on Saturday received an Iranian delegation and both sides discussed reconstruction work undertaken in the liberated territories as well as the operational situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian conditional border and in the Karabakh economic region.

 Haroon told the Press TV website that Iran has always declared its readiness to mediate between Baku and Yerevan in order to reduce tensions and resolve differences “which are not in anyone's interest.”

The analyst described the Caucasus region as an “important security axis” for countries in the region, especially Iran and Russia.

In response to a question about the role of regional countries in preventing foreign interference in this region, he said the conflict in the Caucasus region should be resolved at the regional level and away from foreign interference, “because a regional solution is the key to stability in the region.”

He said the Azerbaijani authorities must not allow Zionists to gain a foothold in the country and should not fall into the trap of changing international borders.

“I believe Tehran and Moscow should work together to solve this crisis and prevent the interference of the Zionists and the West, whose purpose is to disturb the security of the region,” Haroon asserted.

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