A steady pace of diplomatic activity continues across the South Caucasus as 2021 draws to an end.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, arrived in Baku on Wednesday (22 December) for an official visit at the invitation of his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov. The two met earlier this week on the sidelines of the 17th extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Pakistan. At that meeting the two ministers had expressed satisfaction with the current trend in relations between the two nations, and discussed the latest developments in cooperation.
Upon his arrival in Baku today, Trend news agency report the Iranian minister as stating: "I am rejoicing that relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are developing on an upward trend. I have had many meetings with my Azerbaijani counterpart over the past three months. We have reached a positive agreement on the development of cooperation. Within the visit, the mentioned issues will be finalized”.
The office of the president of Azerbaijan confirmed that Abdollahian also held a meeting with the Azerbaijani presdient, Ilham Aliyev, during which the sides discussed the importance of continuing joint efforts to deepen cooperation in political, economic, energy, transport, humanitarian and other fields, as well as the broader agenda of bilateral cooperation.
Also on Wednesday, the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, met in Yerevan with the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Stanislav Zas, who is currently on a working visit to Armenia.
According to the Armenian readout, the two discussed the programs to be implemented during Armenia’s chairmanship’s of the CSTO, as well as the joint activities of the CSTO member states in developing a policy against terrorism, extremism, migration security, biological security and drug trafficking.
The sides also exchanged views on the easing of tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Tajik-Kyrgyz and Tajik-Afghan borders, with Zas stressing “the growing likelihood of migration of Afghan refugees to the territories of the CSTO member states, describing it as a migration challenge”. While discussing the Armenia-Azerbaijan border situation, both sides highlighted the need to start the demarcation process.