Football, it is often said, can unite nations in love with the game. But in Iran, it appears they see things differently. Saudi Arabia and Iran were at loggerheads for years, but in March, with much fanfare, the Chinese announced they had brokered a deal between the two countries. Diplomatic relations were restored. And from last month, football matches could start being played on their home grounds, instead of in third party venues. But for Iran, political scoring is all important. A furious row erupted on Monday after an Iranian football club tried to use a match against Saudi opponents for political propaganda. The AFC Champions League match at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan between Sepahan and Jeddah team Al-Ittihad was called off when the Iranian club refused to remove political banners and busts of the late Revolutionary Guard warlord Qassem Soleimani from the edge of the pitch. Soleimani ran the overseas arm of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was a blunt critic of the Saudi government and the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud family. He was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020. The Iranians refused to remove the bust. After requesting a delay of half an hour to assess the situation, the Saudi team and staff left the stadium to head to the airport and back to Saudi Arabia.

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Akbar Ahmadian, underscored Tehran's firm opposition to geopolitical changes in the region, and warned that any border change will bring about instability and insecurity and aggravate crises. Ahmadian made the comments in a Sunday meeting with Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, in Tehran. The Iranian official pointed to the latest developments in the Caucasus region, and called on all parties to help establish peace in the region. The Iranian FARS news agency said that Ahmadian reaffirmed Iran's principled and unchanging policy on developing relations and interaction with the neighboring states and creating a region free of conflict. "Frank and constructive dialogue among regional countries will prepare the ground for [improving] sustainable security, balanced development and prosperity of the nations in the region," the SNSC secretary stated. Ahmadian voiced Iran's readiness to arrange a meeting among the regional states.

A United Nations mission has arrived in Karabakh, the first visit in thirty years. This is the first international mission to visit Karabakh since the 19 September Azerbaijani military operation and the capitualtion of the Armenian forces. In the last week a hundred thousand Armenian - nealy all the population of the territory - has departed for Armenia. The United Nations Mission, headed by the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Baku, and including representatives of various UN agencies passed through Aghdam in the morning and moved in the direction of Askeran-Khankendi. The purpose of the mission is to familiarize with the situation on the ground and to determine the humanitarian needs of the residents. Announcing the mission last Friday in New York,  UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the mission will be led by a senior official of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ramesh Rajasingam, and the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreeva. The mission will also include an OSHA (occupational safety and health and risk management) technical team and representatives from UN agencies. Dujarric said “the mission will enter the region from the territories of Azerbaijan. The team will try to assess the situation on the ground and determine the humanitarian needs of people on both sides. The UN has not been to the region for 30 years ", and such a visit will be organized for the first time. The mission will operate in the region for at least 10 days."

Azerbaijan's destruction by force of the self-declared Nagorno Karabakh Republic is seen by some as removing one of the key obstacles in the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, that will resume in the next days in Granada, Spain. Others however see the elimination of the Karabakh factor as opening the way for Azerbaijan to make even more demands on Armenia, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. "It is challenging to assess whether peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is within reach. However, one thing is clear: the second humiliation of Armenia within three years has already triggered significant backlash among Armenians. Many are still in shock, which is why Yerevan witnessed only small protests recently. However, many Armenians are fed up with permanent losses, and there is a growing feeling that Armenia, in the long–term perspective, should become stronger to reclaim its position in the region. In the current environment, any attack of Azerbaijan against Armenia, regardless of pretexts or reasons, will only strengthen this feeling among Armenians and will be a direct path to long-term instability and conflicts in the South Caucasus", he argues.

The dramatic events of the last days in Karabakh brought to a climax decades of political crisis, confrontation and war that, since 1989, has resulted in tens of thousands of people dead, even more, injured, and hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people. Armenians and Azerbaijanis fought a war in the early 1990s that resulted in an Armenian victory, and another one in 2020, that resulted in an Armenian defeat. In between, and since, there were many skirmishes, and untold animosity that expressed itself in all sorts of ways. The Karabakh conflict has destabilised the entire South Caucasus region, preventing regional cooperation, frustrating economic development and exposing the region to the manipulation of outside forces. On 19 September, Azerbaijan appeared to finally put an end to the problem through a short but sharp military operation that essentially wiped out the military capability of the Karabakh Armenians. Yet again hundreds died on both sides, and the world is now watching the latest wave of South Caucasus refugees on the move, as almost the entire Armenian population of Karabakh seeks refugee in Armenia. Many consider that the problem has not been resolved – it has simply changed. To understand why events unfolded as they did, and why efforts over decades by the world’s leading countries and statesmen failed to find a solution to this problem it is essential to understand that Karabakh is not one issue, but three: each with its own narrative, and quite persuasive justification. The big question however remains, will there be Armenians living in Karabakh going forward, and under what conditions? Conditions need to be created for Karabakh to become a multi-ethnic community within Azerbaijan. Its specific Armenian linguistic and cultural characteristics should be preserved. All those displaced since 1989 should have a right to return to build together this community. The onus now depends on Azerbaijan to create the right conditions for this to happen, and they will be well-advised to work with credible international partners in doing so. Karabakh is never going to be peaceful, and it is never going to be complete, until its Armenian and Azerbaijani populations are back and living together in peace and prosperity.

The Armenian exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh continued in the last twenty-four hours, with the numbers of those that have moved to Armenia reaching 68,386 by 1200 on Thursday (28 September), according to Armenian government sources. Speaking at a government meeting in Yerevan, Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said that soon there will be no Armenians living in Karabakh and called this ethnic cleansing. In the meantime, the self-styled president of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan, has issued a decree declaring that the Republic and all its institutions will be dissolved on 1 January 2024. The text of the decree, as published on Armenpress, states: "given the grave military-political situation and pursuant to ensuring the physical security and essential interests of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh as a priority, taking into consideration the agreement reached with Azerbaijan mediated by the Russian peacekeeping forces command that the free, voluntary and unimpeded passage of the NK residents with their property and vehicles through Lachin Corridor will be taken into consideration.” All ministries and other state agencies and organizations will be disbanded by January 1, 2024 and the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic ceases to exist,” reads the order. “The population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the population now outside the republic, after this order takes effect, becomes acquainted with the terms of reintegration presented by Azerbaijan with the purpose of making an individual decision in the future on the opportunity to stay (return) in/to NK”.

Thousands of ethnic Armenians have left the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the last days, following the short Azerbaijani military operation on 19 September, and the decision of the de facto authorities of the territory to acquiesce to the Azerbaijani demands to disarm. Official Armenian sources said that by Monday (26 September) at 20.00 hours, 28,120 persons had crossed over to the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Of these 3,253 were provided with temporary accommodation - the rest saying that they were making their own arrangements. The painful exodus was further exacerbated on Sunday evening with an incident at a petrol station just outside Stepanakert, the administrative capital of Karabakh, where many were waiting to fill their cars with petrol for the journey to Armenia. It resulted in an explosion that killed 68 persons and left many others badly burnt. The international community is currently mobilising humanitarian aid for the incoming refugees, as well as for those remaining in Karabakh. The new situation has also resulted in unprecedented co-operation between the Azerbaijani authorities and the de facto Armenian authorities in Karabakh. Following the incident at the petrol station 15 Fire Engines of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations travelled to Stepanakert to help put out the fire. Baku also sent emergency medical supplies. Observers think that these steps by Baku, and others including the provision of fuel and food supplies, may help calm fears amongst the Armenian community of Karabakh of Baku's intentions. But given the long history of conflict and animosity, and the thousands killed on both sides over the last four decades, restoring trust will take a very long time. In the meantime, the exodus of Armenians from Karabakh is likely to continue.