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Iran’s position is that any process to establish peace in the South Caucasus must be based on the existing status quo, and that geopolitical changes are unacceptable to Tehran, Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia Khalil Shirgholami has said.
“Iran’s principled position is to preserve the existing status quo in the South Caucasus, both in terms of territory and the region’s geopolitics,” he said at the 2026 APRI Forum.
“The second point is that we need a new balance in the region, because the discourse about peace is good and useful, but it is not sufficient in itself to establish and maintain peace in the region. If we truly seek real and lasting peace, there needs to be a real balance of power, particularly between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. This is extremely important and significant. And this is precisely what Iran seeks to establish in this region—a new balance of power, which is the real guarantee of lasting and stable peace in the region,” Shirgholami said.
In his view, if there is no balance, the situation will be fragile. According to the envoy, even if the intentions of the parties are positive, that is not enough to establish peace and maintain it.
“We believe that regional dynamics and formats are more stable and effective for lasting peace, stability and development in the region. Of course, the legitimate interests of other powers that are not located in this region are acceptable and understandable. They have certain legitimate interests, and that is quite natural, but at the same time, if there is an attempt to turn this region into an arena of negative competition or conflict, it will not have a positive impact on the region. In the long term, it will have serious consequences, undermining the stability and development of this very region,” the ambassador noted.
Shirgholami assured that the Iranian side supports ideas aimed at connectivity.
“We have welcomed Prime Minister Pashinyan’s idea and program of the ‘Crossroads of Peace.’ We believe that this crossroads has different directions—east-west, west-east, north-south, south-north. And if there are programs aimed at connectivity, then every opportunity and potential must be used and put into practice,” the diplomat said.
Speaking about the TRIPP project, Shirgholami said that if it meets certain preconditions, it will be positive for development and peace in the region.
“At the same time, we believe that Armenia also has other great potential to serve as a connecting link between the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the wider region, and that potential should also be used and put into practice. Therefore, we support the ideas of the ‘Crossroads of Peace’ and connectivity, provided that certain conditions or preconditions are met,” the Ambassador said.
Addressing Armenia-Iran relations, Shirgholami noted that in this context it is very important for the two important traditional partners to be able to navigate the new directions of Armenia’s foreign policy. According to him, this concerns Armenia’s foreign policy oriented toward the West and its rapprochement with the European Union and the United States, while at the same time maintaining the same level of partnership between Iran and Armenia.
“This is the most important challenge, but there are also many opportunities within it. We believe that, at least with the European Union and European countries, we have many commonalities related to approaches to maintaining peace and stability in this region, as well as between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia. Although at first glance it seems that this is a challenge for Iran and Armenia that must be overcome, at the same time, there are also many opportunities. We believe that based on the deep mutual trust between the leaders of Armenia and Iran, we will be able to overcome this challenge and not only maintain the current level of cooperation but also raise it,” Shirgholami said.
He said that the Iranian side is thinking and planning toward establishing a strategic partnership with Armenia and putting that partnership on an institutional footing in the future.
“We understand Armenia’s geopolitical situation. Armenia, being landlocked, has historically faced many problems and obstacles in terms of being open to the world, and it needs multilayered or different mechanisms and routes to establish connections with the world and different regions, as well as to fully utilize Armenia’s role as a connecting hub. Therefore, we understand the situation and this strategic vision of Armenian foreign policy. As for the TRIPP project, based on Iran’s fundamental approach regarding the need to preserve the status quo in the region, which I already mentioned, we believe that during the implementation of this project, no harm should be done to the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia,” the diplomat said.
He added that the Republic of Azerbaijan and its leaders continue to speak very clearly and openly about the so-called “Zangezur corridor,” while the Iranian side, according to the ambassador, is equally clear in expressing the position that any geopolitical change or any action that would harm the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia cannot be tolerated.
“This is the first precondition. Second, a fundamentally important point is that no military presence of the United States can be tolerated in the region. This approach is based on the fact that the United States’ hostile attitude toward the Iranian people has been repeatedly proven, including recently. Therefore, based on these two preconditions—the circumstances that no harm should be done to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia and that there should be no U.S. security or military presence within the country’s borders—we have no reason to oppose this project if it positively contributes to the development and well-being of the Armenian people,” the Ambassador of Iran said.