The new president of Iran and the way of looking at the South Caucasus
Mehr News, International Group- Azer Mahdavan: After the Second Karabakh War and following some geopolitical changes, the importance of the South Caucasus doubled. To the extent that we are now witnessing the struggle of some countries in the region, including Azerbaijan and Turkey, to influence as much as possible in this region. On the other hand, not only the countries of the region but also the Western governments show special attention to the South Caucasus. To the extent that we sometimes see the comments or the presence of these governments in the region.
In its foreign policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to putting the effort to have extensive interaction with its neighbors and strengthening regional connections, is also oblivious to this strategic region. not left; Martyr Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, the former president of our country, always emphasized the will and readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain the stability of the region and the strategic interests of our country.
Given the efforts of the Shahid Raisi government to enjoy the benefits of the South Caucasus, the first question that comes to mind is whether this policy will be followed in the new government. ?
The Turkish section (Istanbul) has a detailed conversation with “Seyd Abbas Mousavi”, the former ambassador of our country in Baku, who recently completed his mission in This country has completed it. The description of this conversation is as follows:
Almost all the candidatesfor the presidency of Iran
Every country has an original and dynamic foreign policy; A foreign policy that can interact with all geographical regions around it and globally. Iran has 15 neighboring countries, so it must follow the policy of interaction with its neighbors.
We are among the few countries that have neighbors to such an extent that we must interact and cooperate with our neighbors due to geopolitical determinism. The greater our interaction, naturally, our national security will be strengthened. Because Iran is under oppressive sanctions and under economic pressure, its first breathing room and the most important breathing room can be its surrounding countries. Anyway, this kind of policy of our neighborhood is not for today and yesterday, it has been before. As I said, this policy originates from geographical determinism and the need to strengthen the security of our country. The Supreme Leader also emphasized this issue many times. I remember that in the last seminar of the ambassadors that we attended, he again confirmed the neighborhood policy of the governments and said a very key sentence, that all our problems should be solved with our neighbors and every challenge should be turned into cooperation. Anyway, this shows that there is a correct, intelligent and rational policy that makes countries have this kind of interaction with their neighbors.
Because there are both economic interests and security interests in it. In addition, the cultural relations are between the border residents, and for this reason, any government that comes to office should start and continue the neighborhood policy based on these real and rational facts. That is, it has nothing to do with the taste of the governments. The requirement of a diverse, dynamic and intelligent foreign policy is to have good relations with the neighbors first. Anyway, some governments with different tastes paid less and more attention, fortunately, the government of the late Shahid Raisi emphasized on the development of relations with neighbors. In the government of Shahid Raisi, we overcame our challenges with almost all 15 neighboring countries, and in my opinion, because this policy is correct and rational, and on the other hand, it is emphasized by the leadership, there is no doubt that this approach will continue, whether in the reformist government or in the fundamentalist government. .
As you know, South Caucasus became important especially after the Second Karabakh War. On the other hand, Turkey and Azerbaijan are trying to have a deep influence there. This area is also important for us. In your opinion, what kind of approach should the future government take on the issue of the South Caucasus?
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always paid special attention to the Caucasus as a region that is our neighbor in the same form of neighborhood policy as I said. But after the second Karabakh war, as you said, something happened in the region that imposed new realities on the region and the geopolitics of the region underwent a change. The Republic of Azerbaijan was able to liberate about 20% of its occupied territories. After 30 years, Azerbaijan was able to recover a part of this land in the 44-day war and a part with a ceasefire agreement.
This was a big event and had a tremendous impact on the geopolitics of the Caucasus region. The Islamic Republic of Iran is located in the neighborhood of this region and has cultural and civilizational commonalities with this region, that is why the developments in this region are important due to the national security and territorial integrity of our country. We must understand the new actors of this region and its geopolitical importance.
Anyway, the South Caucasus is a region that regional and extra-regional powers have an opinion on, because this region is our security backyard, and this is a joke. And we have no compliments. Both us and countries like Turkey and Russia, which are our competitors in the region, have defined interests for themselves in the region. For this reason, the Islamic Republic of Iran paid special attention to this region, especially in the 13th government, and due to the characteristics of the region, this attention must continue in the new government, and we must look for a strong and safe region in order to witness a Let’s be a synergy between these countries in the region. Anyway, the South Caucasus countries include the three countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, and the three big neighboring countries that have always played a role in it, i.e., Iran, Russia, and Turkey, which have interests in this region that they should sit down and discuss with each other. Of course, these talks should be with the involvement of the regional countries themselves and without the involvement of extra-regional powers. Because from time to time the French, Europeans, NATO and Americans are trying to interfere in this region, if we can not allow this and have a convergence and synergy with the countries of the region, it will definitely be fruitful. The best formula is the 3 + 3 formula, which includes three Caucasus countries plus three large neighboring countries of the Caucasus.
You mentioned a good point; The six-party meeting was one of the platforms that was expected to resolve some challenges in the South Caucasus. The end of the war in Ukraine and then the war in Gaza limited the effectiveness of this platform. In Mr. Raisi’s government, we saw efforts to hold this meeting as strongly as possible. In your opinion, what kind of measures should the future government take to make this meeting successful?
Although we did not say it or write it down, the creator of this initiative was the Islamic Republic of Iran, that is, after the midst of the Second Karabakh War in Iran, Dr. Araghchi as an envoy Especially the president went to Azerbaijan, Moscow, Turkey, and even Georgia and Armenia, where they proposed a regional peace plan, which was accepted by some of these countries, and some did not accept it or accepted it conditionally.
This became the cornerstone of this platform, which was first proposed by Mr. Ilham Aliyev and then by Mr. Erdogan. Because we were practically the creators of this issue, we welcomed it. As you said, its first meeting was at the level of deputy foreign ministers, which was held in Moscow. Georgia did not participate due to some problems with Russia, but other countries did.
These events that you said delayed the next meeting that was supposed to be held in Tehran, which fortunately was held in Tehran last year, but like the previous meeting in Georgia He still does not want to get involved in these issues, and he may join this platform after resolving his territorial challenges with Russia and form the same 3+3.
Fortunately, all the member countries took the issue seriously and considered helping to solve regional issues within the framework of the interests of the countries in the same region, and probably within the next two or three months. The next meeting of the 3+3 foreign ministers will be held in Turkey, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will definitely participate strongly in this meeting.
In the new world order, countries generally use the same type of platforms for assistance. Two-by-two, three-by-three platforms, etc., although two of its most important members, Armenia and Azerbaijan, have serious and fundamental problems with each other in the platform of the Six-Party Meeting, but we hope that with the resolution of territorial issues and the return of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Armenia’s acceptance of this issue will make this platform more fruitful. I hope that the problems between Georgia and Russia will be identified and resolved soon. I predict that this platform can become a comprehensive and multidimensional regional organization in the near future or in the medium term. I am very optimistic about this. As far as I know, the Islamic Republic of Iran is paying special attention to this platform, and since it is one of the categories related to our national interests and security, the new government will definitely pursue it seriously.
We have some sensitivities with Azerbaijan and We have challenges that cannot be denied. A series of bitter issues also occurred; The attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran was one of these bitter incidents. In your opinion, considering our national interests, how should the future president of our country look at the issue of Azerbaijan?
