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UN-hosted Cyprus Talks Uncertain as One Side Says it Wasn't Invited

FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
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UN-hosted Cyprus Talks Uncertain as One Side Says it Wasn't Invited

FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, walk during a visit to the CMP Anthropological Laboratory in the buffer zone of Nicosia airport, Cyprus, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

Tentative UN plans to convene the leaders of Cyprus's divided communities for talks as early as next week were uncertain on Monday as one side said it had not received an invitation.
The United Nations has been trying to find common ground for the resumption of long-stalled talks between rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in a conflict spanning decades, a major source of tension between Greece and Türkiye, Reuters said.
Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides told an audience late Saturday that he had been "sounded out" for talks hosted by the United Nations in New York on Aug. 13 with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
"My response was positive and I hope - we haven't been informed yet - for the same response from the Turkish side and the meeting to lead to positive results," Christodoulides said.
Tatar said he had not received an invitation and accused Christodoulides of trying to muddy the waters with his comment.
"There is no invitation from the UN Secretary-General ... for a tripartite meeting. In any case, under the current conditions, we would not approve a tripartite meeting. There is no basis for such a meeting," he said in a statement.
Christodoulides said any possible refusal from Tatar to meet would be a "disservice" to Turkish Cypriots.
A UN spokesperson in Cyprus referred queries to UN headquarters in New York, where there was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup. The seeds of division were sown earlier when a power-sharing administration crumbled and violence prompted the dispatch of a peacekeeping force.
Peace talks have been on hold since 2017. The Turkish Cypriot side, which administers a breakaway state in the north of Cyprus recognized only by Ankara, now says a resumption of talks can only occur if its equal sovereignty with the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government is accepted.

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Iranian Calls to Confront Geopolitical Shifts in the South Caucasus

A photo of a previous meeting of the 3+3 group on the South Caucasus in Tehran (archive - Iranian Foreign Ministry)
A photo of a previous meeting of the 3+3 group on the South Caucasus in Tehran (archive - Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iranian Calls to Confront Geopolitical Shifts in the South Caucasus

A photo of a previous meeting of the 3+3 group on the South Caucasus in Tehran (archive - Iranian Foreign Ministry)
A photo of a previous meeting of the 3+3 group on the South Caucasus in Tehran (archive - Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Tension between Iran and Russia is mounting over the Zangezur Corridor in the South Caucasus, with both reformist and conservative politicians in Tehran suggesting that Moscow is deliberately hindering the revival of the nuclear deal with the West.
The controversy began when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, specifically the provision to open the Zangezur Corridor, which would connect mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared this a “red line” that cannot be crossed.
Disrupting Strategic Trade Routes

Tehran argues that the opening of the Zangezur Corridor would sever a vital trade route linking Iran to Europe. Former Iranian MP Ali Motahari criticized Russia’s focus on the Ukraine war, saying it is disregarding Iranian interests.
Iranian MP Ahmad Naderi voiced his frustration, arguing that Iran’s previous lack of response to Russian actions undermining its national interests has only emboldened Moscow. In a post on X, Naderi stressed that Moscow must understand that strategic cooperation does not equate to compromising national interests, and called on Iran’s Foreign Ministry and military to develop a clear plan to counteract Russia’s “geopolitical ambitions.”
Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexey Dedov was summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, where he was reminded of Iran’s opposition to any changes in the geopolitical landscape of the Caucasus. This move reflects the ongoing divergence in Moscow and Tehran’s positions on regional dynamics, especially after Russia reaffirmed its commitment to opening the corridor.
Russia and the Nuclear Deal
While the surface-level dispute over the Zangezur Corridor appears to be about trade routes, some Iranian politicians believe it has deeper implications, connected to Russia’s efforts to thwart Iran’s diplomatic engagement with the West and hinder the revival of the nuclear deal.
Former MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, who once chaired Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin is launching a “preemptive strike” to prevent any potential rapprochement between Tehran and Washington.
Falahatpisheh, in comments published by reformist media, argued that Russia is using the Zangezur Corridor as leverage to exert pressure on Tehran, ignoring Iran’s “red lines” in regional politics. He claimed that Moscow prefers an isolated Iran, viewing any reduction in tensions between Tehran and the West as a threat to its own interests.
He also argued that Iran has had to make significant concessions to Russia, with the nuclear deal becoming a casualty of the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Iran had reportedly supplied Russia with hundreds of drones during the two-and-a-half-year war, and the potential transfer of ballistic missiles is viewed as a deeply concerning escalation by some insiders.
No Secret Nuclear Program

 

In parallel, Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, denied allegations of a secret nuclear program.
“For the past two decades, the West has used various tactics to pressure the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into investigating Iran,” Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.
Eslami reiterated that Iran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and placed its nuclear activities under strict oversight, with the goal of resolving any concerns about a potential nuclear weapons program. Despite this, he noted that the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, even though Iran had adhered to its commitments.
Eslami further criticized the three European signatories of the JCPOA—France, the United Kingdom, and Germany—along with the US, accusing them of spearheading a campaign against Iran’s nuclear program.