There were no political reasons, there were no factual grounds, there were no obstacles for not using this route. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated this at Thursday’s press briefing—and answering the question why Russia did not use the route through Armenia from the very first days to evacuate its citizens from Iran.

“This route was simply not used before. But at the same time, the passage crossing the territory of Azerbaijan was being used, which was being used taking into account that there was already experience. As soon as the first tension passed, we [i.e. Russia] began to use it, including the passage through the territory of Armenia.

We knew that historically there has never been a situation when Armenian friends and colleagues have refused to allow passage when it was necessary for humanitarian purposes. There was no doubt that everything would work out.

It’s just that in terms of logistics, at that time there was more experience in working with a specific sector. And now the opportunities for passage from the Armenian side have already been used, for which we are grateful also to our Armenian friends and colleagues," Zakharova said.

On June 13, Israel attacked Iran, and this was followed by retaliatory measures by Iran. Military actions between the two countries are continuing to this day.