Iran tries to mediate cease-fire between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Oct 29, 2020

As the battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues on Iran’s northwestern border, Iranian military officials have warned about the escalation as government officials travel to the neighboring countries in order to broker peace.

Alireza Sabahifard, commander of the Iranian army’s Air Defense Force, said, “We will not give permission to any country to violate Iran’s skies. Sabahifard had traveled to Iran’s northwestern border to speak to reporters. He said Iran’s air defense bases are monitoring Iran’s skies around the clock, adding that Iran had moved its most advanced air defense systems to their border when fighting between the two countries broke out in late September.

Ever since the fighting erupted, the Iranian side of the border has been hit by shelling, causing property damage. The Nagorno-Karabakh region is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan territory but controlled by ethnic Armenians. 

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to mediate a cease-fire between the two countries. After meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Araghchi said that Azerbaijan “responded positively” to Iran’s recommendations on how to de-escalate fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Araghchi left Baku for Moscow and will later travel to Ankara and Yerevan, the capital of Turkey and Armenia, respectively.

Iran is in a difficult position in this conflict. It has historically sided with Armenia but has had to maintain some veneer of impartiality due to its own ethnic Azeri population, which is sympathetic to Azerbaijan. However, Azerbaijan is supported by both Israel and Turkey, which causes concern for Iran, and therefore Iran has additional urgency in wanting to end the fighting as soon possible for fear of giving either country more influence on its borders should a wider war break out.