Iran opposes presence of external forces in Caucasus region, says  Pezeshkian

ArmInfo.  President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran supports the recently signed peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but at the same time, opposes the presence of extra-regional forces in the Caucasus region.

Pezeshkian made the remark while meeting Turkey's President Recep  Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, on the sidelines of the Shanghai  Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, China.

The Iranian president and his Turkish counterpart discussed a host of  issues including Syria, Gaza, Iraq, Iran's nuclear program,  developments in the Caucasus, as well as Tehran-Ankara relations.

Pezeshkian referred to the US-brokered agreement that Armenia and  Azerbaijan signed last month to resolve their long-standing  territorial dispute, saying that Iran backs the peace deal.

"We support the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a means  of consolidating peace and stability. At the same time, we oppose any  presence of external forces in the Caucasus region," he noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, President Pezeshkian said that Iran is  ready to negotiate with the United States on the basis of the  recognition of Iran's nuclear rights and reaching a win-win solution.

As for the "snapback mechanism," which Britian, Germany, and France -  all of them members of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - triggered last  week to restore UN sanctions on Iran, Pezeshkian said that the trio  are not legitimate to activate the mechanism, because they have not  fulfilled their commitments.

Erdogan, on his part, said that activating the mechanism is totally  unconstructive, and emphasized Iran's right to have peaceful nuclear  activities.

He also said keeping the door open for negotiations between Iran and  the United States will thwart Israel's plans.

On August 8, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani  President Ilham Aliyev signed a seven-point joint "Declaration of  Peace" in Washington. It envisages a joint appeal to the Organization  for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to end the OSCE Minsk  process and related structures, as well as the creation of a  transport corridor through Armenian territory that will connect  Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave surrounded by Armenia, Turkey  and Iran. The TRIPP project (Trump Route for International Peace and  Prosperity, a 42-km road in southern Armenia that will hand over  control of the road to the United States for 99 years), according to  experts, is capable of significantly changing the geopolitical  situation in the South Caucasus.