At the center of our discussion today were issues relating to regional security and stability, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on July 24 in Tehran in a press statement with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“I briefed my counterpart on the negotiation process of the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

As we have repeatedly stated, in the context of normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we attach key importance to reestablishment of clear borderline based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, to ensuring guarantees of delimitation and border security, as well as establishing a stable international mechanism of discussions between Stepanakert and Baku for addressing issues of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, regrettably, instead of a dialogue with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan today pursues a policy of ethnic cleansing, a clear manifestation of which is the seven-month-long illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with the outer world. Since June 15, the supply of food and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh has completely halted, and the transfer of patients with serious health problems to Armenia is being hindered.

Today we bear witness to the very scenario about which we warned seven months ago: there is already a significant and tangible humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. And this is happening in gross violation of international humanitarian norms, contrary to the provisions enshrined in the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, numerous appeals and resolutions of the international community and bodies, the legally binding Order of the International Court of Justice of February 22, which, by the way, was confirmed on July 6.

I must emphasise that Armenia expects practical efforts from those interested in real peace in the South Caucasus and from the responsible actors to prevent a new humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before their own eyes in the 21st century.

The Republic of Armenia is much interested in unblocking the regional economic and transport infrastructure, based on sovereignty and national jurisdiction of the countries, as well as on the principles of equality and reciprocity. In this context, the inviolability of our state border with the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be questioned, and here the clear and repeatedly expressed positions of the Armenian and Iranian sides are identical. In this regard, as we have noted many times, we highly appreciate the principled and clear position of neighbouring and friendly Iran regarding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia towards respective infrastructures.”