Iranian president warns of potential U.S. hegemonic motives in South Caucasus

TEHRAN, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday warned against any potential U.S. action to pursue hegemonic objectives in the South Caucasus region under the guise of making investments and ensuring peace.

Pezeshkian made the remarks in his phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to a statement released by the Iranian Presidency.

He said Iran welcomes the peace agreement signed Friday in Washington between its northern neighbors, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as any agreement that will promote peace especially among regional countries.

However, he cautioned that the agreement should be assured as one of peace and development, not a tool for foreign countries to achieve their hegemonic objectives through interference.

Regarding the Iran-Armenia relationship, Pezeshkian said it is "strategic, constructive," and "based on the principle of good neighborliness and mutual respect for both countries' territorial integrity."

For his part, Pashinyan elaborated on the recently-signed agreement, and said Armenia will not sign any agreement without first completely ensuring that Iran's interests, considerations and sensitivities will be observed under it, according to the statement.

Armenia attaches special and outstanding status to its strategic ties and cooperation with Iran, Pashinyan said, adding that Armenia will take all its important decisions and actions following bilateral consultations and coordination.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, at loggerheads over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region since 1988, have been having peace talks since 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed on, despite sporadic clashes since then.

On Friday, the leaders of the two countries witnessed the initialing of a peace agreement at the White House, ending their decades-long border conflict, with further steps to be taken to eventually sign and ratify the agreement. ■