On October 23, 2023, Tehran, Iran hosted a widely publicized "3+3" meeting, in which the foreign ministers of two of the three countries of the South Caucasus (Georgia from the start refused to participate) and their three neighboring major powers Iran, Turkey and Russia, took part. Looking carefully at the map, we will see that this format is the most logical in terms of geopolitics, and the destinies of the three South Caucasian countries depend on the balance of power among the aforementioned big powers.

Historically, there have always been bloody wars between Russia, Turkey and Iran for supremacy in the Caucasus, which stopped after the creation of the Soviet Union, when the "Iron Curtain" established a stable situation. After the collapse of the USSR, the wars in the region resumed. In 2020 after the 44-day war, when, along with the weakening of Russia, Turkey, seemed to reach a superior position, the latter's ally Azerbaijan became able to occupy all of Artsakh and threaten Armenia, which is following Azerbaijan’s military build-up along its southern border with growing concern.

It is no coincidence that Iran signed a document with Armenia regarding the reconstruction of the Kajaran-Agarak section of the "North-South" highway on the day of the meeting in Tehran. This is an agreement of geopolitical importance, by which Iran "entered" the Caucasus and became one of the players in the region. For Iran, this path is within the framework of its national interests, which means that if Turkey and Azerbaijan try to carry out aggression against Syunik, Iran will have a legitimate basis to defend it, for the sake of its investment of economic, why not also political and geopolitical significance in the communications system of Syunik. This somewhat restores the balance of power, which was disturbed after 2020, when Turkey became the main player, and Russia even had to make concessions.

After the war, the balance that existed in the region in the form of Russia’s controlling influence was altered in favor of Turkey, so to restore it, it was necessary for another party to emerge. The platform of "3+3" was indispensable so that these major actors, plus the three countries of the South Caucasus, could come to an agreement. The United States prevented this format. In 2020, when Georgia gave its consent, the US Defense Minister visited Tbilisi, after which Georgia announced its non-participation in "3+3."

Although it was important for Georgia to restore the broken balance of power between Turkey and Russia, under the pressure of the United States it refrained for now. In general, each of the parties had their own preference. For Turkey, it was desirable to have such a platform where Iran would not be a player because their interests did not coincide on the issue of the corridor passing through Armenia. Russia, on the contrary, benefits from Iran's presence, because without Tehran it cannot ensure its presence in the South Caucasus. It is thanks to Iran's deterrent factor that Ankara and Baku do not resort to the use of military force.

If Iran has a serious influence in the Middle East region, it cannot but have influence near its frontiers, and a growing one at that. This is beneficial for us. At the same time, for Iran itself, the processes taking place in our region are much more important than what is happening in Gaza. What is happening there is rather public relations in terms of Iran's influence in the Islamic world. Meanwhile, the developments in the South Caucasus have an existential nature for it, because there are threats of Azerbaijani separatism inside Iran.