Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi says Tehran is against any change in the historical and geopolitical borders of the region, calling it unacceptable. 

Raisi made the remarks during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of the of the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand Friday, in an apparent reference to escalation of decades-old hostilities between neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“The basis of our policy in the region is that the fate of the countries is determined by themselves and their national sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected,” he said. 

Touching on the developments in the South Caucasus, he emphasized Tehran welcomes “the liberation” of Nagorno-Karabakh, and expressed Iran’s readiness to partake in reconstruction projects in the region.

Iran has to an extent supported Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan and has warned that it would not allow any seizure of territory from Armenia proper by Baku. Tehran in the past has also expressed alarm at alleged Israeli military presence in Azerbaijan. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also warned in October 2021 that Iran will not tolerate "geopolitical change" in the region and at the borders.

In the latest bout of clashes in September, Armenia said that scores of its soldiers had been killed in clashes along the border with Azerbaijan after a sharp escalation in hostilities which prompted Russia and the United States to call for restraint.