Iran hopes for swift peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has expressed hope that Armenia and Azerbaijan will swiftly sign the peace agreement.

“Iran supports the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan and we hope that the two countries will make a final decision as soon as possible about the signing of the agreement,” the Iranian FM said at a joint press conference with Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan in response to a question by Armenpress on the likelihood of renewed escalation given the Azeri preconditions and false accusations of border shooting.

“We believe that this agreement is highly important for peace and stability in South Caucasus, and this issue is also highly important for the development of economic relations, and we hope that the problems which exist will be resolved soon and the agreement will be signed. As you said, the risk of escalation in the region exists, and we hope that in case of signing the peace agreement these risks will be minimized and we will witness the region’s stability, which is in everyone’s interests,” the Iranian FM added.

Days after Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that the negotiations around the peace treaty terms have been successfully concluded, the Azerbaijani government started a massive disinformation campaign falsely accusing Armenia of firing at its military positions across the border. The accusations have been numerously denied by the Armenian military. Furthermore, the Azerbaijani authorities refused to provide any evidence in support of their accusations. The report on border shootings was also denied by the EU monitoring mission in Armenia. Azerbaijan has also been making preconditions for signing the agreement: demanding Armenian constitutional changes by falsely claiming that it contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as well as the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. 

Armenia has announced readiness to swiftly sign the peace agreement.