Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday dismissed as “provocative” the warnings from critics who suggest that Azerbaijan may exploit the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel to launch a military incursion into Armenia. The concern centers on the potential opening of a land corridor through Armenia’s Syunik Province to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave.
Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan indicated that Armenia’s Security Council, which he chairs, has held multiple recent meetings—though he downplayed their significance in relation to Syunik.
“In the last week or month, there have been probably four, five or six Security Council meetings, but there have been no official press releases,” Pashinyan said. “These meetings were not prompted by any threat to Syunik. I view these statements as provocative, baseless, and intended to sow panic and uncertainty among the Armenian public.”
Reiterating his stance that a new war with Azerbaijan is unlikely, Pashinyan pointed to what he described as significant progress on a bilateral peace treaty.
“As I’ve said before, there will be no war between Armenia and Azerbaijan—there will be peace,” he declared.
Despite this optimism, tensions remain. Azerbaijan has made the finalization of a peace treaty contingent on constitutional changes in Armenia and continues to insist on an extraterritorial corridor through Syunik—Armenia’s southernmost province and its only direct link to Iran. Just a day after Israeli strikes began against Iran, a senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev publicly called on Yerevan to take an “important first step toward the Zangezur corridor.”
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan acknowledged on Wednesday that the government is preparing for potential fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict, including refugee flows and disruptions in logistics and energy supplies.
“We must be ready with contingency scenarios that could become necessary at any given moment,” Grigoryan said in remarks to parliament.
Tehran has firmly rejected the idea of a corridor cutting across Armenian territory, warning that it would sever Iran’s direct border with Armenia. Iranian Ambassador to Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani, reiterated on Tuesday that such a development remains a “red line” for Iran.
Opposition figures and analysts in Armenia continue to warn that any weakening of Iran could embolden Baku to pursue its corridor ambitions by force. President Aliyev has previously hinted at this possibility, including in a speech delivered in January.
Underscoring the divide within Armenia’s leadership, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan acknowledged on June 5 that the risk of renewed hostilities with Azerbaijan persists—directly contradicting Pashinyan’s assurances of peace.
