Alwaght- The issues of Caucasus are "related only to regional nations" and the foreign actors should avoid involvement, said Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Sayyed Abbas Mousavi in an X post.
He made the comments as he supported a pro-peace dialogue platform, 3+3, initiated to bring peace back to the region amid Azerbaijan-Armenia tensions.
"Caucasus issues are only related to the countries of this region. Iran and other countries in the region strongly support the 3+3 initiative for the stability and security of the Caucasus and will never tolerate extra-regional interference.
His mentioning of intolerance was directed at the Western countries that have been working to get a toehold in Caucasus over the past two years.
"Like in other fundamental issues, we have a serious problem with the goals and desires of the West in this fundamental issue," part of his post read.
Iran and Russia in mid-October denounced European and US interference in tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan at a meeting in Tehran aimed at finding a solution without the West.
At the meeting -- which also included foreign ministers from Turkey, Russia and Iran -- the envoys noted a push for peace in the Caucasus.
"The problems of the region cannot be resolved by the intervention of foreign forces," Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi told the meeting.
Iran's Foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said: "The presence of foreigners in the region not only does not solve the problems but complicates the situation".
Following the 2020 large-scale war in the South Caucasus and the 2022 deadly attacks by the Azerbaijani armed forces on Armenia's sovereign territory, the European Union dispatched an extended monitoring mission to the unstable border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The move aroused the ire of Russia which has long considered the region its sphere of influence.
Iran, a major actor in the region, also opposed the Western presence in the region. However, Armenia has been moving towards the West as it argues its ally Russia failed it in its war with Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashynian in February announced freezing membership at Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military bloc. Experts said that the announcement was a result of an Armenian deal with France.
"During Pashinyan's visit to Paris on Feb. 10-11, during negotiations with French President Emmanuel Macron, the issue of Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO was discussed behind closed doors. All Pashinyan is doing now is an action plan agreed with Macron," said Igor Korotchenko, director general of the Moscow-based Caspian Institute for Strategic Studies.
Iran openly voiced its opposition to French and other Western powers' foothold in the region.
"Extra-regional countries” must not be allowed to intervene in disputes in the South Caucasus, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a phone call late in December.
“Care must be taken that the Caucasus region does not become a field of competition for extra-regional countries and that its issues are handled by the countries of the region and without the interference of outsiders,” Raisi was quoted by his office as saying.
