Visiting Armenia, Iranian president warns against U.S.-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Armenia on Tuesday following the U.S.-brokered framework for a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which Tehran opposes. The Iranian president warned that “rule in the Caucasus must remain Caucasian,” a barely veiled reference to the United States.

“In my meeting with the prime minister of Armenia, I emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran firmly believes in preserving Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintaining warm, continuing relations between our two countries. Our concerns regarding the presence of third-party forces near our shared borders must be fully addressed,” Pezeshkian wrote on 𝕏.

On Aug. 8, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a historic trilateral signing ceremony event at the White House with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The initial peace deal also includes a corridor that links Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan enclave via southern Armenia and bypasses Iran and Russia.

The Jewish community in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, praised the U.S.-brokered deal as a “blow to Iran,” stressing it would strengthen regional stability and improve ties with Israel.

Rabbi Zamir Isayev, the Sephardi chief rabbi of Baku, praised the deal, noting that it “sends a clear message of peace and unity and strengthens the region’s ability to resist Iranian influence. It is no surprise that Iran fears this deal.”

The European Union also expressed support for the foundational framework, while the Russian government described it as “a positive step for stability in the Caucasus.”

Jewish-American communities also welcomed the deal as “a step that strengthens stability in the Caucasus, brings Armenia closer to the West, supports Israel’s security and that of its ally Azerbaijan, and reinforces the resilience of Jewish communities in the region and abroad.”

The Iranian regime has rejected the U.S.-brokered deal. A senior advisor to the supreme leader warned that the planned corridor could become “a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries.” Tehran has also opposed a proposal by Armenian companies to lease land along the Iranian border, arguing that such an arrangement could complicate cross-border trade. More broadly, Iran sees the agreement as a threat to its long-standing influence in Armenia, a small and fragile state with which it has maintained close ties for years.

Addressing these concerns, President Pezeshkian stated that “the roads running through Armenian territory will remain under Armenia’s exclusive jurisdiction, and security will be provided by Armenia, not by a third country.”

The Muslim-majority nation of Azerbaijan has built strong ties with Israel and is known for its history of tolerance toward Jewish communities. Baku supplies Israel with a significant share of its oil and has hosted Israeli security cooperation for years. These close relations have repeatedly drawn threats from the Iranian regime, which views Azerbaijan’s partnership with Israel as a direct challenge to its influence in the region.

In May 2023, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Azerbaijan, highlighting the close friendship between the two nations and their deep ties with the Jewish community in Baku. During the visit, Herzog also warned that the Iranian regime poses a serious threat to regional peace.

“We need to remember that beyond trade and historic ties, including with the Jewish community, that Azerbaijan is Iran's neighbor,” Herzog stated. “Iran is a destabilizing influence in the region that is working continuously to act against Israel and against the developing alliance of peace and security in the region, and I will certainly discuss this.”