He seemed to respond to Baku’s latest accusations that Yerevan is not complying it with a relevant provision of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It requires the Armenian side to “guarantee the security of transport links” between Nakhichevan and the rest of Azerbaijan passing through Armenia’s Syunik province.
An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier this week that Baku will use Iranian territory for that purpose if Yerevan continues to oppose the opening of such a corridor. Iran has already served as the main transit for Azerbaijan-Nakhichevan traffic for over three decades. Last October, Azerbaijani and Iranian officials broke ground on a new Iranian transit road bypassing Armenia.
Pashinian said that Armenia is ready to open such transport links for Nakhichevan “under the same conditions as the Islamic Republic of Iran gives Azerbaijan.”
“Moreover, we do not rule out certain simplifications of [border] procedures,” he told an Armenia-Diaspora conference held in Yerevan.
The premier stressed that this must not compromise Armenia’s sovereignty or territorial integrity in any way.
Pashinian said on August 31 that his government is ready to let a foreign company provide “additional security” along the would-be transport links for Nakhichevan. His foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, clarified afterwards that the company would “escort passengers or cargo,” rather than replace Armenian border and customs officers.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry indicated that such an arrangement would not satisfy Baku. Azerbaijani officials have said that traffic through the “Zangezur corridor” should be exempt from Armenian border controls.
Syunik is the only Armenian region bordering Iran. The latter is strongly opposed to the opening of the extraterritorial corridor sought by Azerbaijan as well as Turkey, fearing a loss of its common border with Armenia.