The press conference held in Yerevan the other day by Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Khalil Shirgolami, appears to reflect Tehran’s concerns and doubts regarding Yerevan’s policies.
On July 3, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Tehran to attend the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He was killed by the United States and Israel, which launched the war against Iran, on the very first day of the conflict.
Two or three days after Pashinyan’s visit, the Iranian ambassador held a press conference in which he spoke, among other things, about the risks associated with the so called “Trump Route”, Iran’s legitimate concerns over those risks, and the need to dispel them. Admittedly, the ambassador also noted that Yerevan has assured Tehran that the Trump Route poses no risks or threats to Iran. However, the very fact that he nevertheless publicly spoke of Iran’s legitimate concerns and the need to address them suggests that Tehran is not convinced by Yerevan’s assurances.
This, in turn, indicates that the meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pashinyan in Tehran did not fully satisfy the Iranian side—at least not when it comes to alleviating Iran’s concerns and perceived risks. Otherwise, it is unlikely that these issues would have been raised publicly in Yerevan by the ambassador just a few days later.
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At the same time, Iran also appears to be articulating the minimum condition under which it would be prepared to trust Yerevan’s assurances. Ambassador Shirgolami stated that Pashinyan is expected in Tehran as soon as possible to sign the document on the Armenia–Iran strategic partnership.
The Iranian side first announced work on such a document about a year to a year and a half ago, during the tenure of former Ambassador Mehdi Sobhani. Since then, Armenia has made considerable progress on a range of agreements with the United States, including the Strategic Partnership Charter and the agreement on the Trump Route. Against that backdrop, Tehran likely finds it increasingly puzzling that the Armenian-Iranian strategic partnership document has still not reached the signing stage.
Hakob BADALYAN
