Iran's Pezeshkian to visit Armenia and Belarus next week

Tehran, Aug 16 Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to depart on Monday evening for a two-day tour to Armenia and Belarus.

The announcement was made by Mehdi Sanaei, political advisor to Iran's President, in a post on the social media platform X.

Sanaei said improving bilateral relations with Armenia and Belarus, especially in the trade area, and signing cooperation documents would be on the President's agenda during the visits, adding that the trips had been scheduled for late June but were postponed.

Pezeshkian's visit to Armenia is expected to take place as Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had been at loggerheads over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region since 1988, signed on August 8 a peace agreement in Washington.

Included in the peace agreement is a deal to create a transit corridor across southern Armenia, with the project's exclusive development rights granted to the United States, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran has repeatedly voiced opposition to the transregional players' presence in the region and warned against any changes to the region's geopolitics and historical borders.

On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi exchanged views on the latest developments in the Caucasus with senior Russian and Armenian diplomats.

In two separate meetings with Igor Khovaev, Russia's special representative for the normalization of ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Vahan Kostanyan, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Araghchi also discussed bilateral relations with the two countries, according to statements released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

In both meetings, Araghchi underlined Iran's principled position of supporting the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, highlighting the necessity to peacefully resolve regional issues through efforts by the countries of the region and in the absence of foreign interference.

Speaking to Khovaev, he called for using regional mechanisms to resolve regional issues, promoting cooperation and convergence in the region, and guaranteeing the security and collective interests of countries in the Caucasus.

Araghchi said Iran and Russia adopted similar positions on important regional and international issues, stressing the need to continue and promote bilateral consultations and cooperation to safeguard their shared interests.

The Russian diplomat, for his part, presented a report of his country's diplomatic efforts to ensure peace and calm in the Caucasus, underlining the importance of continuous and close consultations, coordination and interaction between Russia and Iran.

In his meeting with the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister, Araghchi underlined that the unblocking of transit routes in the region should take place while respecting regional countries' national sovereignty and territorial integrity and observing their interests and considerations.

He said no plan to unblock transit routes should lead to geopolitical changes in the region or the disruption of connection routes between other countries, stressing that regional states would benefit from any peace agreement in the region.

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