The Region in Brief
Armenia
Armenia’s Security Council secretary, Armen Grigoryan, met Azerbaijani presidential foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev in Dilijan, marking Hajiyev’s first reported visit to Armenia.
In separate but identical statements, the sides said they discussed issues related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agenda and emphasized “the importance of continuing direct bilateral dialogue.” They also said special attention was given to measures aimed at strengthening trust between the civil societies of the two countries.
Grigoryan and Hajiyev agreed to continue working-level contacts, with the next meeting expected to take place in Azerbaijan. No further details were released.
The visit drew immediate criticism from opposition figures, who argued that the symbolism of the meeting place made the encounter especially troubling. Mane Tandilyan, chair of the Country to Live party, noted that Hajiyev was hosted in Dilijan, a city she said had been revitalized through Ruben Vardanyan’s investments and had become one of Armenia’s calling cards.
Tandilyan also pointed to Grigoryan’s personal connection to Shushi, where his wedding reportedly took place and where Vardanyan had supported restoration work before the city came under Azerbaijani control. She accused Armenian officials of remaining silent on Vardanyan and other Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan, saying the government’s conduct diminished “the dignity of the Armenian people” and the reputation of the state.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Armenia Supreme Body Chairman and lawmaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan also sharply criticized the timing and political context of the Dilijan meeting. Speaking in a live video, Saghatelyan said it was “not a coincidence” that Pashinyan was cycling in Tavush and had effectively taken a “day off” on the same day Grigoryan met Hajiyev, suggesting sarcastically that the two may have met “somewhere under a tree.”
Saghatelyan linked the meeting to Pashinyan’s subsequent threats against opposition leaders, including his statements that he would “destroy” them and pursue the confiscation of their assets. According to Saghatelyan, Pashinyan is seeking more time from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev because he has not yet been able to fulfill the commitments he made, particularly on constitutional changes. He argued that the prime minister’s real objective is to remove opposition forces from the political field so he can deliver on Baku’s demands without domestic resistance.
Saghatelyan challenged the prime minister to clarify whether he intends to hand over enclaves, make further concessions to Azerbaijan or take additional steps affecting Armenia’s sovereignty.
Artsakh
Veronika Zonabend, the wife of detained former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, has announced a new humanitarian initiative aimed at organizing an international women’s delegation to Baku to visit Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan.
In a public statement, Zonabend said Vardanyan has been held in Azerbaijan since September 2023 and has been deprived of contact with his family. “During this time, his grandchildren have been born, and he has never held them in his arms,” she said.
Zonabend stressed that the initiative is not only about her husband, noting that 18 other Armenians remain in Azerbaijani custody. “For their families, they are not an agenda item, a political issue or a complicated diplomatic problem,” she said. “They are husbands, fathers, grandfathers, sons and brothers.”
She argued that since the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Azerbaijan, families have effectively lost an independent humanitarian channel for regular contact with their detained relatives. International mechanisms that should protect detainees in such circumstances, she said, are “not working in practice.”
Zonabend said that, at Vardanyan’s request, she intends to form an international women’s humanitarian delegation to travel to Baku. She appealed to Azerbaijan’s human rights commissioner, Sabina Aliyeva, asking her office to help facilitate an official visit, meetings in Baku, access to Armenian detainees held at the Umbaki penitentiary complex, and the transfer of family parcels, photographs, letters and permitted personal items.
“This initiative is not a political action,” Zonabend said. “It is an attempt to restore at least a minimal connection between the prisoners and their families.” She added that supporters will collect letters and photographs for Armenian detainees over the next two weeks, describing the effort as a reminder to those held in Azerbaijan that “they have not been forgotten.”
Iran
The proposed U.S.-Iran peace framework remains uncertain, with President Donald Trump saying the memorandum of understanding is “not final,” despite earlier claims that Washington and Tehran were close to formalizing a deal.
Trump warned that the United States would “probably go back to bombing” Iran if Tehran failed to honor the terms. His comments undercut earlier optimism around the framework, which is expected to be taken up at a meeting Friday.
Tehran has also avoided presenting the deal as final. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the sides are closer than before, but that the text remains subject to final discussions and possible changes. Iranian officials have framed the agreement as a de-escalation mechanism rather than a surrender, emphasizing that Iran will not accept terms that undermine its sovereignty or security.
At the same time, Iran has signaled that any arrangement must restrain Israeli action as well. Tehran has warned that continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon or the presence of Israeli forces there would be treated as a violation of the broader understanding.
Israel, meanwhile, has made clear it does not consider itself bound by the U.S.-Iran arrangement. Israeli officials have pushed back against provisions that would halt fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, arguing that Israel’s security campaign against Hezbollah and Iranian-linked threats will continue regardless of Washington’s negotiations with Tehran.
