The RA Defense Minister’s spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan’s statement that the terms like “border tension” and “ceasefire violations” should be substituted by the term “war”, according to the expert for Iranian studies, Rudik Yaralyan, creates a new situation neither for Armenia nor for the region. “The Defense Minister’s spokesman just stated what already existed a long time ago. Simply it was raised with a clear wording, we are in a war situation and there is no “frozen conflict””, said Rudik Yaralyan, in an interview with Aravot.am.
What dangers does our interlocutor see for Armenia in this confusing time in the region? In Vienna, after the agreements reached on June 14 on the Iranian nuclear issue, in the opinion of the expert for Iranian studies, has significantly promoted to the Russia-Iran coordinated activities, which we are witnessing. “It also gives a kind of answer to the question why Russia was interested in hastily solution in 5 + 1 talks on Iran. Essentially, Russia needed Iran to be beyond the restraints and free in action, with whom it will be able to cooperate in the region in contrast to Turkish and Saudi aspirations. The latter, in my opinion, are implementing unsuccessful attempts to counteract the Russian-Iranian coalition,” said the expert. Among the most important events of the past year, our interlocutor singles out Iran’s First Vice President, Eshagh Jahangiri’s visit to Armenia, during which a very important statement was voiced that Iran views Armenia as a major transit country. “Given the Iran-Azerbaijan and Iran-Turkey tense relations and further escalation intentions, it can be stated that Armenia indeed get the chance to become the main partner for Iran,” said our interlocutor, adding that the meeting and agreements related to the energy sector in the format of Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia will have a significant role in the future.
To the observation that, in parallel, such talks are also underway with Azerbaijan, the expert replied that in its relations with Azerbaijan, Iran does not completely use the economic factor as a lever of political pressure because the sanctions against Iran are not lifted completely, and at times, it uses cheaper projects. While Azerbaijan, as a transit country for Iran, assumes fewer costs. Nevertheless, after the complete lifting of the sanctions, according to the expert for Iranian studies, Armenian will be able to turn the supply of trust accumulated over the years in the relations with Iran into a capital.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
