Armenia is the “land of opportunities” for Iran : Iranian delegation visits Armenia

Armenia is one of those few countries in the world that has a lot in common in terms of geography, culture and even shared interests with Iran. However, most of the opportunities that the neighboring country offers to Iran, has remained unkwnon.

Recently, an Iranian delegation consisting of diplomats, media directors, journalists and researchers from Iranian think tanks visited the neighboring country between November 4-8. The Iranian delegation started their journey in Yerevan and ended it in Kapan located in the southern Province of Syunik.

The trip, which took place at the invitation of “ORBELI – Analytical Research Center”, which is affiliated with the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, was an opportunity to meet and talk with the officials of the host country, including Mher Grigoryan, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Armen Grigorian, Secretary of the Security Council, and Deputy Ministers of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures.

Moreover, the Iranian journalists seized the opportunity to conduct a detailed conversation with Mehdi Sobhani, the Iranian ambassador to Armenia, who cares much about maximizing Iran’s interests, on the visit.

Also, the Iranian delegation visited a copper mine in Kapan County and the north-south highway on the visit and attended a specialized conference. In addition, a visit to the Armenpress News Agency, the official news agency of Armenia, was the other part of the journey’s schedule.

First day of the trip; Discussing cooperation opportunities in meeting with Armenian officials

On the first day of the visit, the Iranian delegation was received for a very important meeting with Mher Grigoryan, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia on Tuesday. In the meeting, Grigoryan stressed good relations between the two countries, adding that, the Armenian nationals consider Iran as their second home, and so do the Iranian nationals about Armenia, something that shows the strong relations between the two countries.

The Armenian deputy prime minister, also said that “the implementation of the Intersection of Peace project will provide a good opportunity to Iran to gain access to the Eurasian markets very quickly. Armenia always takes into account Iran’s interests in Eurasia, and this is a principle to us.”

Grigoryan continued to say that “The construction and development of the North-South Corridor is underway, and Iranian companies are making a good contribution to the construction of the southern section of the project.”

The Armenian deputy prime minister further emphasized that Armenia always takes into account Iran’s interests in any program.

In the intimate meeting, Grigoryan answered various questions from the members of the Iranian delegation.

Armen Grigorian, Secretary of the Security Council, also received the Iranian delegation for a separate meeting, where he emphasized the importance of holding such events in order to strengthen trust and transparency between political, social and media authorities.

In the meeting, the security official explained Armenia’s policies and approaches to regional political, economic and security interactions with its neighbors, stressing the importance of developing economic relations with Iran.

Grigorian also answered the questions of the members of the Iranian delegation about the latest developments related to the Intersection of Peace project, the talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their differences, and his country’s engagement with Europe and the United States.

The Iranian delegation was also received by two other Armenian officials while in Yerevan who were Deputy Ministers of Construction & Infrastructure. During the meeting with those officials, different issues related to the economy and transportation were brought up.

Visit to Armenpress News Agency

Iranian delegation also visited the Armenpress News Agency headquarters during the visit. Narine Nazaryan, Director of Armenpress News Agency and Araks Kasyan, the Deputy Director of the news agency stressed the necessity of strengthening the contacts between Mehr News Agency (MNA) and the exchange of journalists, which was highly welcome.

The Iranian delegation also paid a visit to Armenpress News Agency’s gallery of photos.

Second day of trip; opportunity for field visits to economic infrastructure

The Iranian delegation traveled to the city of Kapan, the capital of Syunik Province, in the north of Armenia on Wednesday.

They visited the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) which is the largest mine in Armenia.

One of the most important parts of this trip was visiting a part of the North-South Corridor. The North-South International Corridor is the name of the big transportation project that was launched following the agreement of the three countries of India, Iran, and Russia in 2000.

The North-South Corridor is known as an important communication bridge between European countries, Scandinavia, and Russia with the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asia.

This corridor includes a network of highways, maritime routes, and railway lines with a length of 7,200 kilometers and is known as the shortest communication route between Russia and India. This corridor has the ability to turn Iran into a regional transit center.

The construction of 32 kilometers of this route has been entrusted to Iranian companies. One of the officials of the improvement project of a part of the north-south corridor of Iran to Armenia announced to the Iranian delegation that this project is the biggest project of Iran in Armenia since its independence.

A 32-kilometer section of the Agarak-Kajaran road in the south of Armenia is being built by an Iranian company.

21 km of this route have been created anew and the rest will be reconstructed. 17 big bridges and 2 tunnels will be built on this route.

3rd day of trip; specialized meetings, analysis of ways to deepen Iran-Armenia cooperation

On the last day of the working trip, a specialized panel was held in Kapan during which the experts of ORBELI  Analytical Research Center and Iranian experts and professors discussed the most important issues related to the political, economic, scientific, and cultural aspects of bilateral cooperation and the development prospects of Iran and Armenia.

Iran’s Ambassador to Yerevan Mehdi Sobhani stated that if the relations with the neighbors are managed well, it will become a platform for the development of the foreign relations of the two countries.

He noted that the first ring of security is the neighborhood environment, and the development of relationships plays a key and important role in the formation of a stable and safe region.

He emphasized that the neighborhood policy needs constant care because the unstable conditions become the basis for the abuse of foreigners, adding that some enemies are seeking to secure their illegitimate interests in the region by causing conflict and tension.

Friendly relations with neighbors will be the basis for lower-cost foreign trade, the growth of exports, and the provision of import funds for countries, Sobhani added.

He went on to say that strengthening the neighborhood policy and promoting cooperation in border areas will increase the level of welfare of the region and provide security.

Sobhani said that Iran welcomes the negotiations between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty, noting that the tension and conflict between the two countries can have unfortunate consequences for the parties and the people of the region.

Iran’s ambassador in Yerevan supported Armenia’s “Four Ways of Peace” initiative, saying that any removal of blockades should be under national and territorial sovereignty and security supervision and control of Armenia.

The border of Iran and Armenia is the border of friendship, he said, stressing that the two countries were not a source of threat to each other but they are a source of a better tomorrow for each other.

This conference was held in three political, economic, and cultural panels. Ehsan Movahedian, a senior expert on Caucasus issues was the director of the political panel.

The roundtable was held in three panels: political, economic, and cultural. A senior expert on Caucasus affairs Ehsan Movahedian was the director of the panel and the political section. He thanked the directors of the ORBELI Research Center and called for the continuation of such expert-level meetings with the participation of other beneficiary countries in Caucasus such as Georgia, India, Russia, France, etc. through webinars or in person.

–  Movahedian considered the expert-level meeting between Iranian and Armenian media delegation ‘important’ for expanding bilateral ties in the relevant field, adding that senior officials of two governments pay high attention to safeguard the security and peace in the region and should take practical steps in this respect.

–  Director of Eurasia Study Group, Institute for Political and International Studies Ali Beman Eghbali ZARCH stated that regional and international interactions have entered a new era of competition and the international arena is involved in multiple and diverse crises including genocide in Gaza, war in Ukraine, and extraordinary developments with a focus on Eurasia including South Caucasus and West Asia.

–  A member of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) of Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Habibollah Malakoutifar is of the opinion that Iran-Armenia trade ties have considerably registered a considerable growth especially in the recent six years, showing a 13 and 18 percent growth in weight and value, respectively.

–  Deputy Head of the Institute for Iranian and Eurasian Studies (IRAS) Davud Kiani pointed to the 3+3 mechanism, adding that 3+3 mechanism about Caucasus is constructive with the participation of Iran, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Georgia and it is hoped that more constructive dialogues would be witnessed between the two countries.

–  Jasmic Giragosian from Geghard Studies Foundation pointed out that the relations between Iran and Armenia, as two historical neighbors, are very special.

–  OANA Secretary-General and IRNA Director of International Relations Zaman Rezakhani noted that media can demonstrate both the importance and potential of cooperation to the public, investors, and politicians, so that IRNA expresses its readiness to cooperate with all Armenian media outlets to enhance synergy and increase mutual understanding.

–  Artyom TONOYAN Professor of Yerevan State University said that improving relations between Iran and Armenia is certainly a vital threat to Israel, and any improvement in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is also considered a threat to the Zionist regime.

–  Abed Norouzi Zarmehri a fellow researcher at Caucasus Studies Foundation further pointed out that friendly relations between Iran and Armenia have a special place in the history of Iran dating back to many years ago. The bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia over the past three decades are a clear example of good neighborliness resulting from the active neighborhood policy between the two countries. Armenia is a suitable destination for foreign investment. On the other hand, Armenia is a member of important international organizations such as the World Bank (WB), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and several other international organizations. These factors provide the basis for the active presence of Iranian companies in Armenia.

Sergei Melkonian, Research Fellow at APRI Armenia, was the other speaker in the conference, where he said that the economic relations between the two countries are growing, but they have the potential to expand them even more, in other fields rather than economy and trade.

Johnny Malekian, a fellow researcher at ORBELI also addressed the event, saying that Armenia is trying to interact with Iran and Georgia as part of its diversifying foreign policy. Meanwhile, he noted that interaction with Azerbaijan is difficult for Armenia “because Azerbaijan is trying to talk to us using a language of force.”

Alireza Nazif Head of Iran-Armenia Friendship Association, was the other speaker at the panel who stressed that that reaching to the $3 billion trade target from the current $700 million sides should be seriously planned.

Robert Ghukasyan, Governor of Syunik, “It is important for Syunik to have more interactions in the field of transportation, infrastructure, culture and tourism, and we welcome the expansion of relations. We have important programs to get to know Iran and Armenia more in Sisian city, and we hope that with holding these programs, we can contribute to greater interaction between the two countries as well as the border towns. The bilateral relations between Iran and Armenia are improving at a high level and we support this matter.”

The other speaker at the conference Zhana Vardanyan, a fellow researcher at ORBELI said that “There have been talksof$3 billion bilateral trade for years, but we should reach $1 billion in the first place. During recent years, our trade relations have increased. In this regard, there are problems, including trade imbalance, because Iran’s exports have always been more than those of Armenia. Over the past 10 years, Iran’s export trend has been growing, but Armenia’s export rate has remained fixed. The energy sector in Armenia’s exports has always accounted for more than 50 percent and even reached 90 percent, but in recent years this figure has decreased and will reach 62 percent in 2023, for example. Gas has played an important role in Iran’s exports to Armenia. Tiles, ceramics, and construction materials are among Iran’s exported goods.”

Mahmoud Jaafari-Dehaghi, Head of Association of Iranology, Professor of Tehran University; Mehdi Seif Tabrizi, expert on Caucasus affairs; Zohreh Khanmohammadi, Assistant Professor at Islamic Azad University (IAU), Morteza Abedin Varamin, Iran’s consul general in the Armenian city of Kapan; and the Director General of the MNA International Department Mohammad Reza Moradi were the other speakers at the event.

Moradi said in his address to the seminar that “All the points and proposals presented in this meeting could face barriers in their path towards realization without the role of media. The media acts like the arm of the diplomatic apparatuses, so its potential should be used more in the policymaking of the authorities in the two countries. Media as a facilitating factor can provide opportunities for cooperation in different fields. From this trip and conference, we have realized that Armenia has remained unknown to Iranians. However, this country could be considered the land of opportunities, but few of our researchers are familiar with Armenia in the Caucasus Region, and without this knowledge, one cannot expect relations to enhance. One of the proposals that can resolve this problem considerably is the exchange of media delegations and journalists between the two countries.”

MNA