Our relations must be ‘maximum beyond’ geopolitical influences - Nikol Pashinyan to Iranian leader

13:27 • 01.10.19

Politics

Armenia and Iran must keep on building relations beyond the scope of any geopolitical influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today as he received the Iranian president on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union’s (EAEU) summit in Yerevan.

Greeting Hassan Rouhani at his official residence, the premier also hailed the Iranian leader's first visit to the country after last year’s political developments.

“The relations between our counties have been - and continue to remain - positive. And our position is that those relations must be maximum beyond geopolitical influences, given especially that we are direct neighbors sharing common interests and still have to continue the cooperation in the thousands of years to come,” he said, reaffirming also the increasing importance of the partnership with neighboring states.

According to a press release by the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the sides also prioritized the bilateral intergovernmental commission’s work, highlighting the mutual arrangements aiming to foster economic ties.

Thanking the prime minister for a warm reception, the Iranian leader said his country also attaches importance the developing multi-sectoral cooperation with Armenia (as a neighbor and friend). “We are ready to continue the joint work with your government towards the development and implementation of more programs and expanding the natural gas-electricity project. We are interested in the realization of regional projects in the energy sector and infrastructure development,” Rouhani added.

Pashinyan highly praised Iran’s willingness to expand the natural gas – electricity exchange deal.

The two countries’ leaders later moved to instruct the responsible government officials to elaborate and submit, within the shortest possible timeframes, proposals aiming to expand cooperation.

The delegations later discussed possibilities of joint projects in the HighTech industries, and the customs and tourism sectors.

Rouhani also highlighted the essentially increased mutual turnover after the government transition in Armenia. He praised the successfully continuing joint projects, expressing at the same time a willingness to discuss the construction of the Meghri Hydropower Plant (as well as the expansion of capital investments and turnover through free trade areas).

The two countries’ leaders later exchanged thoughts over the transit routes expected to connect the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea. Noting that the implementation of the project is in Armenia’s strategic interests, Pashinyan said expressed his government's willingness to take practical steps towards realizing the objective.

The meeting also offered the sides an effective platform to discuss regional issues and the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. Pashinyan thanked the Iranian president for his country’s balanced position on the issue. Rouhani, for his part, emphasized the importance of a negotiated deal "covering all the sides’ positions and approaches."