Iranian-Armenian relations

[Surenas]

Commemorating Iran's Christian-Armenian martyrs who died during the Iran-Iraq War:

http://www.irna.ir/fa/Photo/2627539/عکس/غبار_روبی_گلزار_شهدای_پیروان_ادیان_توحیدی

[Eddo211]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Russia should trust Armenia that we will not backstab them in our relations with Iran which has been historic.....we are not Georgians or Azeris.

[UrMistake]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Some interesting statistics about Lragir

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/www.lragir.am

Server location is in Germany
It has quite a high popularity rank in Azerbaijan.
Top per-cent of visitors are form Azerbaijan and Armenia.
42% of visitors are from Azerbaijan as opposed to 42% from Armenia.
Other country visitor numbers drop off sharply.

I guess they have to hold on their readership as well as serve ( please ) them.
.

lragir is so full of pure golden SH*IT

[londontsi]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Suren this article implies too much on what ifs. I have not seen Iran even mention anything about recognizing independence of Kharabakh. O wait i see your problem - you are using Lragir as your source. The implications that now Iran is buddies with the USA is another stretch of imagination which only Lragir is capable of. The fact that there are too many what ifs and other holes in a story never seems to bother Lragir but they should bother anyone who cares for Armenia.

Some interesting statistics about Lragir

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/www.lragir.am

Server location is in Germany
It has quite a high popularity rank in Azerbaijan.
Top per-cent of visitors are form Azerbaijan and Armenia.
42% of visitors are from Azerbaijan as opposed to 42% from Armenia.
Other country visitor numbers drop off sharply.

I guess they have to hold on their readership as well as serve ( please ) them.
.

[Haykakan]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Suren this article implies too much on what ifs. I have not seen Iran even mention anything about recognizing independence of Kharabakh. O wait i see your problem - you are using Lragir as your source. The implications that now Iran is buddies with the USA is another stretch of imagination which only Lragir is capable of. The fact that there are too many what ifs and other holes in a story never seems to bother Lragir but they should bother anyone who cares for Armenia.

[Surenas]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Moscow Uses Armenia Against Iran

Over three decades Iran has conducted a policy on the Caucasus that was agreed with Russia to a certain extent. Aside from other objectives, Iran viewed the Caucasus as an arena of agreements with Russia and often made a compromise on a number of issues since Russia used to be a supplier of arms and technology and supposedly promoted the development of foreign political and economic relations with Iran.

Iran tried to bring its interests in line with Russia’s interests regarding Armenia and the Karabakh issue, and Iran pretended aligning itself to Russia’s interests. In reality, Iranians have always tried to push Armenia slightly towards more independence from Russia.

At the same time, to the extent of development of relations between Armenia and Iran and the international community the Russians became more cautious and less friendly towards the attempts of Armenia and Iran to play more independent regional games.

A mostly similar situation occurred in regard to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Russia is against the opportunities of communication in the northwest, that is European direction, primarily transportation of natural gas that would have led to Russia’s loss of important geo-economic positions.

At the same time, Iran was conducting a temperate policy on the Islamic region of the North Caucasus. The Iranians have not done any substantial step towards establishing relations with Chechnya and Dagestan. Djohar Dudayev used to blame Iranians for their coward and reluctance to spoil their relations with Russia. Thus, in the result of Iran’s departure from the North Caucasus Turkey and Saudi Arabia strengthened their foothold in this region, and the question is who benefitted.

Now the situation has changed sharply. Blockade on Iran has been lifted, Iran is becoming a strategic partner to the United States and Great Britain, and there is no reason to believe that their commitments on sustaining relations with Russia are nothing but a token of the centuries-old traditions of Iranian diplomacy.
First of all, Iran could change its attitude to the Karabakh issue and recognize the right of the Armenian people of NKR to self-determination that is Russia’s nightmare.

Iran has started making plans on strengthening its influence on the North Caucasus, first of all in Dagestan and Chechnya, as well as North and South Ossetia because it considers the people of Ossetia as consanguineous people. The Iranians are dealing thoroughly with the problems of the Avar and Lezghi peoples, including those relating to Azerbaijan’s interests. In addition, Iran intends to resolve these relations and contacts, ignoring Russia’s interests, using opportunities provided by the international law, civil rights and the religious context.

Iran’s activity in the North Caucasus could lead to not only a significant change of the political situation in the region but will also create active levers of pressure on Russia. Besides, alongside with the development of the Iranian-American relations the North Caucasian problems may mount to new arenas of debate, involving Iran as well.

Other unexpected scenarios are possible related to the Iranian-Georgian relations because Georgia has gained sufficient know-how on relations with the peoples of the North Caucasus. Iran expects to set up communications with Europe together with Georgia, which is an opportunity to fulfill Iran’s centennial dream.

Russia will do everything to hinder Iran’s plans and efforts in the Caucasus, first of all its policy involving Armenia’s assistance, which may take unexpected turns, spoiling Iran-Armenia relations. However, the Iran-Armenia relations could be an important factor in the American policy on containing Turkish expansion but only in case the United States and Iran are able to restore Armenia’s sovereignty.

http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/comments/view/31545

[Federate]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Armenia: Yerevan Cold-Shoulders Iran as Gas Suitor
December 11, 2013 - 4:07pm, by Marianna Grigoryan Armenia Russi EurasiaNet's Weekly Digest Armenia-Russia Relations Oil and Gas

Armenia is the most gas-hungry country in the South Caucasus, and already is in a committed energy relationship with Russia. But many Armenians, tired of being taken for granted by the Kremlin, want their government to start flirting with another natural-gas suitor: Iran.

Just days after a December 2 visit to Armenia by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran put out a feeler to Armenian officials about potential gas sales. So far, Yerevan hasn’t shown interest in talking.

In any event, Tehran could face some hard bargaining; Russia seems determined to maintain its dominant energy position in Armenia. Alexei Miller, the chief executive officer of Russian energy giant Gazprom, has stated that Armenia, as a member of Moscow’s planned Customs Union, could obtain gas at Russian “domestic prices.” Specifics about gas-pricing plans remain sketchy.

Russia currently exports roughly 1.9 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Armenia. According to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian, the gas sells at the border for $189 per thousand cubic meters (tcm), but markups mean that the price that consumers pay is about $391/tcm. The high cost puts the squeeze on many Armenians, about one-third of whom are estimated to live in poverty.

Iran, which has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, clearly wants to grab a share of the Armenian market. But Armenian officials contend that Iranian gas -- which, in sales to other countries is priced in the $400/tcm range -- is too expensive to be a viable alternative.

Despite the apparent lack of interest on Yerevan’s part, Iran seems persistent. On December 6, Iran’s ambassador to Armenia, Mohammad Rajesi, convened a rare news conference in Yerevan to declare that Tehran is ready to supply Armenia with gas on more favorable terms than Russia, if need be.

"We have to sit down and negotiate,” Rajesi asserted.

The only negotiations to date, he claimed, concern an electricity-gas barter, in which Armenia receives one cubic meter of gas from Iran for every three kilowatts of exported electricity. Under the terms of that deal, the gas price for Armenia works out to be $181.7/tcm.

Armenia is no stranger to energy cooperation with Iran – the two are working on a 365-kilometer oil pipeline, scheduled for completion in 2014. Yet, Armenian officials seem to be keeping the Iranian gas offer at arm’s length out of concern about upsetting Russia, whose Customs-Union trade bloc Yerevan intends to join. Russia also wields vast influence over Armenia’s energy infrastructure.

The looming prospect of Armenian membership in the Customs Union may be a motivating factor for Iran, some observers believe. "Iran understands that if the Customs Union's border is situated in the southern part of Armenia [which borders on Iran], its own interests will be at risk, too,” said Stepan Safarian, a senior member of the opposition Heritage Party.

“This is actually an anti-Russian move, which also gives Armenia a chance for independence as well,” he added, referring to Rajesi’s offer.

Some Armenians, remembering Iran’s help during the grim fuel and food shortages that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, don’t think Yerevan should be so dismissive at the Iranian gas offer.

“We were able to survive in those years of cold and lack of electricity because Iran helped us,” recollected 40-year-old Yerevan physicist Armen Babaian. “They supplied us with food and even oil cooking stoves. Now they are making a friendly move, but the Armenian authorities cannot accept it because their hands are tied.”

Others advocate caution. While supporting the notion of diversifying Armenia’s gas supplies, Iranian affairs expert Gohar Iskandarian, a research associate at the National Academy of Sciences’ Oriental Studies Institute, said “Iran is in an unsteady situation now” and can’t be counted upon to be an alternative to Russia. “Let us not forget that Armenia imports not only gas from Russia, but other strategic goods as well,” Iskandarian added.

Concern about US sanctions against Iran – still in force despite a recent nuclear deal– plays no role at all in the Armenian domestic debate. The United States generally has not raised a public fuss over Iran’s energy ties with landlocked Armenia, blockaded by Azerbaijan and Turkey over the 1988-1994 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Safarian, the opposition politician, expressed doubt that the Kremlin would “allow” Yerevan to talk gas sales with Iran. “Political forces and society would have to play a great role here by increasing the pressure,” he said, hinting that mass protests, on a scale similar to those now occurring in Ukraine, would have to occur before the Armenian government would feel a need to parley with Tehran.

Although there was a small public protest December 2 in Yerevan opposing the country’s pending move into the Russia-led Customs Union, there is no evidence to suggest a large-scale show of civil opposition to the government’s current political course is in the offing. The mere hint of cheap gas supplies from Moscow seems sufficient to keep the Armenian government from exploring other options.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67860

[Mher]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Iranian president's Special Assistant: Ottoman Turkey is condemned in extermination of millions of Armenians

“Ottoman Turkey is condemned in extermination of millions of Armenians,” has stated the Iranian president's Special Assistant in Ethnic and Minority Affairs Ali Younesi, the Iranian “Habaronline.ir” reports.

The Iranian high ranking official has touched upon the ethnic and religious minorities in the ISNA news agency and has noted in particular, “Some radical circles claim that Iran is a multinational country, however it is a wrong interpretation as there is only one nation in Iran. All the citizens are a part of that nation. The religious and other ethnic Iranians have a big input and have no privileges with each other.”

Ali Younesi has added, “It should be noted that during the glorious history of Iran there has been recorded no case of Genocide. See what is going on in Turkey, Iraq, and Pakistan. Ottoman Turkey is condemned in extermination of millions of Armenians. While there are no such records in the case of Iran, as many Iranian tribes have been able to preserve their identity.”

http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/12/10/iran/

[Eddo211]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

vank cathedral inIran
at new years 2012

[Vrej1915]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

http://www.noravank.am/arm/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=6562