Russian Border Guards to Withdraw from Armenia-Iran Border Checkpoint by January 2025

MOSCOW — Russian border guards will withdraw from Armenia’s sole border crossing with Iran by January 1, 2025, while remaining deployed along other sections of the border, the Armenian government announced on Tuesday.

Nazeli Baghadasaryan, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, stated that this agreement was reached during discussions between Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier that day.

“At the checkpoint on the Armenia-Iran state border, the service will be carried out entirely by the Border Guard Troops of Armenia’s National Security Service,” Baghadasaryan wrote on Facebook.

She also mentioned that starting next year, Armenian border guards will join their Russian counterparts in protecting Armenia’s borders with both Iran and Turkey. She did not provide a reason for the decision, which appears to have been initiated by the Armenian side. Russian officials have yet to comment.

Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed his gratitude to President Putin for the service provided by Russian border guards since Armenia’s independence.

This development follows Russia’s recent withdrawal of border guards from Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport, a move that was requested by the Armenian government.