Iran worried over domestic political instabilities in Armenia – analyst

Iran, which supports Armenia’s sovereignty and stability as its southern neighbor, is now worried over the existing domestic political situation, especially after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), says Vali Kaleji, an analyst at the Tehran-based Center for Strategic Research.

“A weak Armenia is not in Iran’s interests; Iran is worried over the internal instability in Armenia, and I am hopeful the government and the opposition forces will eventually manage to reach a peaceful solution to this situation,” he told Tert.am on Tuesday.

The expert cited, in particular, the statements by high-ranking Iranian officials stressing the need of leaving Armenia’s internationally recognized borders unchanged.

“The Armenian-Iranian border is extremely important for the two countries. Our shared border, i.e. – the Syunik region, must not change under any circumstances. Iran has 15 neighbors, and we will not ever let their number be reduced to 14 because of the problems with Armenia,” he said, emphasizing the uninterrupted implementation of several key projects.

“The implementation of the Natural Gas for Electricity project is very important for the two countries. Also the government decision to boycott the import of Turkish goods and replace them with Iranian products came as a good opportunity for Armenia and Iran,” he said,

Addressing the Islamic Republic’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the expert emphasized the unchanging attitudes in the past three decades since the eruption of the conflict.

“Iran’s position on the issue is not something new. At the start of the war in Karabakh in the 1990s, the Iranian government recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Iranian leadership has never backed cessation. Iran pursues this unique approach also in relation to Abkhazia and North Ossetia, as well as the Crimea. In none of these cases has Iran recognized the independence of those territories. It has been Iran’s position for three decades,” he said, noting that the country adhered to the same thesis also in the period of the second Karabakh war.

Meantime Kaleji highlighted the differences between the Iranian and Turkish attitudes. “The Iranian government never backed the idea of a miltiary solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the past 30 years. We saw Azerbaijan’s support to Turkey during the war in both the political and military asepcts. But Iran never acted in support of a military solution.”

Another difference that Iran has in comparison to Turkey is the priority focus on the security of the Artsakh Armenians, Kaleji added. “President [Hassan] Rouhani has attached importance to the security of the Armenians in Karabakh. What matters for Iran is the consideration of maintaining the security of the Karabakh Armenians in any scenario proposing a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,” he said.

Commenting on the future of the Iranian-Armenian economic relations, the expert stressed the importance of practical efforts to translate the ideas to action.

“We have treaties with both [second and third Presidents] Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and [current Prime Minsiter] Nikol Pashinyan. Iran is currently extremely worried over the pollution of Aras river from the Armenian side. There is also a desire to transport the Iranian natural gas to Georgia through Armenia’s territory. Also, after the signing of the November [9] trilateral statement, the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway has been under consideration. If the railway can be connected to Nakhichevan from the Iranian city of Julfa to later reach Yerevan and also Tbilisi, it will be a very short railway communication line. It will be a new opportunity for expanding the two countries’ relations,” Kaleji added.