Azerbaijan important for US - Iranian pundit

Iranian political analyst Ali Salami has said that Azerbaijan is important for the US.

"The US does not exert serious pressure on Azerbaijan. When there is such an atmosphere, there is tension in bilateral relations and in order to achieve something from the opposite side, one of the top diplomats of this country visits the country not to put pressure on it." Salami said in his interview with Armenian media, Caliber.Az reports.

"It was a visit aimed at settling some things, removing differences, which served its purpose. Azerbaijan is important for the US because of its neighborhood with Iran, relations with Russia and Türkiye, however, there is no noticeable pressure policy here.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan joint statement is the result of both bilateral negotiations and the work of mediators and, most likely, of the US side itself.

Naturally, the US was concerned that due to some statements it was losing the role of a mediator. So with the visit of the US diplomat, there was an attempt to restore that role, to contribute to the joint statement, and also to organise the sides’ meeting. However, I think the main concern of the US is that Azerbaijan and Iran have started cooperating on the Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan route, and the US is still pushing the issue of the Armenian route, although Armenia is against its format.

The US mediation in putting the issue of this road through Armenia on the agenda is favorable to both Azerbaijan and the United States. I think that in the depth of this humanitarian statement, there are serious themes that are rarely voiced in public discourse and statements today," the analyst noted.