Pashinian also seemed to imply that Armenia’s Security Council headed by him has met to discuss the conflict’s implications for the country.
“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,” he told reporters. “The meetings were held not because there is a danger related to Syunik [province.] I consider these statements provocative, unfounded and intended to generate anxiety, panic and uncertainty among citizens of Armenia.”
Pashinian again ruled out an Azerbaijani attack on Armenia, arguing that Baku and Yerevan essentially finalized a bilateral peace treaty earlier this year.
“As I have said, there will be no war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, there will be peace,” he said.
Armenia - A view of Armenia's border with Iran, April 12, 2025.
Baku makes the signing of the draft treaty conditional change of Armenia’s constitution. It also continues to demand the extraterritorial corridor that would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering Iran. Speaking one day after the start of the Israeli strikes on Iran, a senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Yerevan should take an “important first step towards the ‘Zangezur corridor.’”
Iran remains strongly opposed to the corridor, fearing a loss of its common border with Iran. The Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani, said on Tuesday that this remains a “red line” for Tehran.
Armenian opposition leaders as well as many pundits fear that a possible weakening or destabilization of the Islamic Republic could embolden Azerbaijan to try to open the corridor by force. Aliyev implicitly threatened such military action in January.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan acknowledged on June 5 the lingering risk of a fresh military conflict with Azerbaijan, contradicting Pashinian’s statements.
Armenia - Iranians fleeing the war arrive in Armenia, June 17, 2025.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian said on Wednesday that the Armenian government is making contingency plans for other potential consequences of the Iranian-Israeli conflict relating to “refugees and logistical and energy problems.”
“We need to develop scenarios that may be needed at a particular moment,” Grigorian told the Armenian parliament.
Officials at Armenia’s sole border crossing with Iran said on Tuesday that the daily number of Iranians entering Armenia has risen sharply since the outbreak of the war on June 13. Some of those people interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service at the Agarak crossing confirmed that they left their country for security reasons.
An RFE/RL correspondent also witnessed on Wednesday a long line of mostly Iranian commercial trucks waiting to cross into Iran. Earlier this week, Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan said the war has disrupted cargo shipments to and from Armenia carried through Iranian territory.