Opinion: "Cooperation between Armenia and Iran in the military sphere is unlikely"

Iranian Security Council Secretary in Yerevan

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani is currently in Yerevan on an official visit. With his Armenian colleague, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan, he discussed both the issues of bilateral cooperation and the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Speaking about regional stability and security, Ali Shamkhani stressed that it is necessary to respect the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders.

According to political observer Hakob Badalyan, Iran first of all means the inviolability of its borders and territory.

Details of the meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils, as well as a commentary by an Armenian expert on what issues are more relevant for Iran and how relations with Armenia can develop below.

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Security Council secretaries agree to continue dialogue

As for bilateral relations, Armen Grigoryan and Ali Shamkhani discussed:

• cooperation within the framework of the free economic zone on the Armenian-Iranian border and the construction of the North-South highway;
• the importance of the Iranian port of Chabahar in the context of the development of the southern, Syunik region of Armenia.

Armen Grigoryan presented to his Iranian colleague the process of normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Armenia’s approaches to ensuring regional security and unblocking communications.

Ali Shamkhani said that Tehran is ready to make its contribution to ensuring security in the South Caucasus.

The heads of the security councils agreed to continue the dialogue, their next meeting will take place on the Armenian-Iranian border.

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Expert commentary

According to political observer Hakob Badalyan, when discussing the Armenian-Iranian relations, first of all, the following should be taken into account:

• the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has been and remains in the focus of Tehran’s attention;
• At this stage, Iran is also interested in the course of the Moscow and Brussels formats, that is, negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan mediated by Russia and the West;
• in connection with the recent intense processes unfolding around the future of its nuclear program, Iran is even more wary of the situation in the region.

Hakob Badalyan believes that through economic cooperation, Iran is trying to contribute to the formation of a stable and predictable regime in the region.

“Iran is focusing on enhancing its role through economic projects and thereby increasing its importance in the Caucasian security system. This refers to the economic relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan”, Hakob Badalyan said in an interview with JAMnews.

Regarding Ali Shamkhani’s statement on the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, Badalyan notes that all states stand for the supremacy of these principles, but there is one but:

“Speaking of this principle, each state proceeds from its own agenda. In these statements regarding relations with Azerbaijan, Iran means not the Karabakh problem, but that it will not tolerate any risks on its border with Azerbaijan”.

According to the observer, Iran means, first of all, the inviolability of its borders and territory.

As for the Iranian guest’s statement that Tehran is ready to make a contribution to ensuring the security of the South Caucasus, Hakob Badalyan does not rule out, but considers cooperation between Iran and Armenia in the military sphere unlikely.

When asked how Armenia should position itself in the event of the formation of the Iran-Turkey-Azerbaijan format, the political observer replied that this is unlikely to happen. But if such a format is nevertheless formed, Armenia will not be able to exert a significant influence on it:

“Armenia should assess the situation in accordance with the risks that threaten it, work on promoting its formats”.

Hakob Badalyan believes that Armenia faces the following tasks:

• deepening relations and most effectively implementing economic programs with Iran,
• achieving the effectiveness of the negotiation process on the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
• moving the conflict with Azerbaijan to a more manageable and predictable stage in order to reduce the security threat,
• working on deepening Georgia-Armenia-Iran cooperation.

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Iranian Security Council Secretary in Yerevan