Cooperation in the energy sector can be put on a new footing
On August 4, Serzh Sargsyan visiting Tehran on work, attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani, then participated in the official reception on behalf of the participants of the inauguration ceremony in honor of the President Hassan Rouhani.
In the frames of the working visit, S. Sargsyan met with Iran’s newly elected President. According to the official message, the parties discussed a broad range of issues related to bilateral and multilateral relations. “The parties have emphasized that the Armenian-Iranian cooperation agenda is quite rich and indicates implementation of a number of large projects. Expressing satisfaction with high level of mutually beneficial cooperation based on the age-old traditional friendship between Armenia and Iran, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Hassan Rouhani stressed the necessity to bring the cooperation on a new, higher stage.” They also touched upon regional issues, particularly the current situation of negotiation process in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev refused to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President of Iran, while the invitation to attend the ceremony of inauguration of newly elected President of Iran was sent to Azerbaijan in the name of Ilham Aliyev. During Iran President’s inaugural ceremony, the Speaker of Milli Majlis Ogtay Asadov presented Azerbaijan. Iranian Press TV channel reported that at the meeting with the Speaker of National Assembly of Azerbaijan, the President of Iran said that cooperation between Tehran and Baku can contribute to enhancing and strengthening of regional relations.
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The participation at the level first face of the Republic of Armenia in the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President of Iran is certainly a positive step. Recently, Armenia appeared in a unique situation. Russia seems attempts to get more and more closer to Azerbaijan and Turkey. Turkish ‘Haber Turk’ newspaper reported that a few days ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The parties discussed the latest developments regarding the situation in Syria and Egypt.
During the phone conversation, which lasted about 50 minutes, Erdoğan and Putin also discussed the issue of Russian-Turkish bilateral relations. Turkish media described this phone conversation as a surprise.
And yesterday, Russian agencies reported that during the telephone conversation Putin and Erdoğan agreed to hold regular council meeting of the Russian-Turkish high-level cooperation in Moscow in the fall. According to the press service of the Kremlin, Putin and Erdoğan also agreed to continue contacts in G-20 summit to be held on September 5-6 in St. Petersburg.
In this respect, Armenian-Iranian relations are more than important for two countries and the region. First, in terms of cooperation in the energy system, the Armenian-Iranian relations can be put on a new basis, taking into account the fact that the attitude of Russia towards Armenia has been significantly changed in recent months, and Moscow has begun to deliver unpleasant surprises on all levels.
Iranian-Azerbaijani problematic relations can also be impetus to Armenian-Iranian relations. Several years ago, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyed Ali Saghaian made a remarkable statement referring on the topic of placement of peacekeeping troops in the liberated territories. “Iran has a common border with Karabakh, so we have made our observations and considerations regarding the composition of a peacekeeping force.”
However, after the presidential elections in Iran, the international community’s attitude is changed. During a briefing in Washington, press Secretary of USA President Jay Carney, commenting on the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President of Iran on Sunday, said that the U.S. is ready to negotiate with Iran, meanwhile, both in bilateral and multilateral formats. Two weeks ago, Iran’s Supreme Leader and spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, did not rule out of the possibility of a dialogue with the U.S., but he also called for cautiousness in the relations with the United States authorities.
Thus, it is a favorable situation to make Armenia-Iran relations more attractive and more profound. Besides, Armenia is also able to assume the role of the influential side in the interrelations with the neighboring countries and the international community, trying to promote cooperation between Iran and the third countries.
Emma GABRIELYAN
