Lachin is a city in the Republic of Azerbaijan that was freed from the occupation of pro-Armenian forces on November 9, 2020 after a 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia and after the two countries agreed to a Russia-brokered peace deal.
Lachin hosts a corridor that links Karabagh to Armenia. That comes as the Republic of Azerbaijan has committed under article 9 of the Moscow agreement to keep the corridor open to allow the Armenian residents of Karabakh to import their needs including food, medicine and fuel from Armenia.
According to the same agreement, the Russian peacekeeping force have been tasked with monitoring the flow of goods and people through the Lachin Corridor.
However, on December 12, 2022, a group of citizens from the Republic of Azerbaijan who called themselves environmental activists blocked the Lachin Corridor claiming that mineral resources of the region have been plundered by pro-Armenian forces living in the region.
Russian peacekeepers have failed to react to this move, effectively leaving Armenians of Karabakh under a blockade and prompting concerns about a humanitarian catastrophe in the region.
Lachin is part of Azerbaijani territory and Baku can exercise its sovereignty over the city based on 2020 agreement signed with Armenia in Russia.
If accusations on the plunder of Lachin's mineral resources by Armenians was true, the government of Azerbaijan could have used its legal capacities to prevent it from happening and there was no need to block the corridor.
The Republic of Azerbaijan says that the country's goal is not to block the corridor while insisting that vehicles can move freely on both directions of the road. However, evidence suggests there have been some strict restrictions on traffic passing to and from Karabakh which means that the corridor has effectively been blocked.
The current situation has left the Armenians under blockade and struggling with lack of food, medicine, hygiene, etc. in Karabakh, prompting many to warn of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe in the region.
Blocking Lachin is not expected to give the Republic of Azerbaijan any benefits while it could represent Baku as a violator of the Moscow agreement and provokes anti-Azerbaijani sentiments in the region.
Moreover, the continued siege on the Nagorno-Karabakh region would allow the international community to make a case against Azerbaijan and will prompt international institutions and other countries to intervene to end the blockade.
The UN Security Council has issued a statement asking the warring parties to resolve their disputes through dialogue and to immediately allow free and safe movement of people and vehicles through the Lachin corridor and to protect human rights and to avoid adverse humanitarian effects on civilians.
In a statement, the United Nations Human Rights Office emphasized the need to ensure the safe and free flow of traffic through the Corridor. The US State Department has issued a statement asking Azerbaijan to open the Corridor while the French diplomatic authorities have insisted that movement through the road should be allowed without any conditions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also stated that if the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia refuse to engage in diplomatic talks, the conflict in the disputed areas in Karabakh will worsen further.
Considering the necessity of regional efforts to find a solution to the current situation in Karabakh, positions adopted by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the issue of Karabakh are of key importance.
In statements made during the during the 44-day war, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei emphasized the need to consider four fundamental principles in efforts by the Islamic Republic of Iran to try to mediate between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The four principles mentioned by Ayatollah Khamenei at the time were as following:
1-The war is a tragic incident which threatens the security of the region and is not good for Iran either and it should be finished as soon as possible.
2- All the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan that are captured by Armenia should be liberated and returned to Azerbaijan.
3- The safety of the Armenians who live in these territories must be protected.
4- International borders must be respected, meaning that the two sides should not violate borders of other countries in the region.
The Moscow ceasefire deal was an important step to establish peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia but it failed to consider Ayatollah Khamenei’s guidelines and allowed for a continued hostilities between Baku and Yerevan.
In a partnership with Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, The diplomatic apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran should consider these principles in its efforts to revise the Moscow Agreement and to seek a permanent solution to the conflict in Karabakh.
4261
Your Comment