Iranian-Armenian relations

[Persopolis]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

The wiki article on Karabakh war has decided to include 'Iran' as supporter of azerbaijan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War

Wikipedia is cesspool of Israeli misadventure ... the Azerbaboon government hires Israelis to write whatever crap they want - all bankrolled with Baku's oil money.

Be certain that if an Iranian got within 2 meters of Aliyev, they would tear his mustache off.

[Artsakh]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Iran-Armenia: Geopolitics no impediment to mutually beneficial partnership

Diplomats call Iran’s position in the Karabakh conflict a balancing act. The Islamic Republic that has in its northern parts a 20-million community of Turkic-speaking Shia Azeris with separatists tendencies has managed to maintain good relations with Christian Armenia as well.


A recent statement by a representative of the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Ardebil, however, has somewhat marred the relations between the two neighboring states. Friday prayer imam Seyyid Hasan Ameli stated Iran helped Azerbaijan during the Karabakh war.

“So far politicians in Iran have not spoken about their aid [to Azerbaijan] and, possibly, because of certain diplomatic considerations will never raise these issues in the future. But not me. I am a Friday prayer imam and, speaking from the podium, I must answer questions and suspicions of Muslim brothers. We were supplying arms by convoys to soldiers who fought for Shusha and experienced shortages of weapons. With the consent of the government and at the request of Rahim Gaziyev (Azerbaijan’s defense minister in 1992-93) a common Azerbaijani-Iranian defense staff had been set up and as part of that staff Tabriz and Ardebil generals were helping their Azeri brethren, day and night, doing everything possible to preclude Armenian aggression,” the senior Iranian cleric claimed.

According to Ayatollah Ameli, Iran also provided logistical support in the delivery, if necessary to the front lines, of thousands of fighters from Afghanistan. “We were supplying arms and ammunition not to Armenians, but to our Azeri brothers. Our military training bases were located not in Armenia, but in Azerbaijan,” the imam said, according to SalamNews.

Armenia’s reaction to the statement was rather reserved. Speaking in the Armenian parliament Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan confirmed the statement made by the Iranian spiritual leader that Afghan gunmen were fighting on the Azerbaijani side during the Karabakh war. “At a certain period Afghan fighters were indeed on the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” said Ohanyan.

Meanwhile, Armenian Ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelyan described Iran’s mediation in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict as useful, according to Iranian news agency ISNA. “Over the past 20 years Iran has proved its honesty and friendly attitude towards Armenia,” the diplomat said during a recent discussion in Tehran on topics of regional policy and Karabakh settlement.

And the Armenian press reminds that Iran is the only neighbor of the current Karabakh conflict zone and contends that during the Karabakh war it was Iran that ensured Armenia’s food security.

At present, the relations between Armenia and Iran are on the rise: Armenia is locked by neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan, and its only gateways to the rest of the world are Georgia and Iran. Armenia has a narrow 40-kilometer border strip with Iran in the south, while Karabakh, which is a bone of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has a lengthier border with the Islamic Republic - nearly 140 kilometers.

NATO and U.S. forces are stationed in virtually all countries that border on Iran, except for Armenia and Karabakh. This circumstance is very important to Iran, which tries to funnel its efforts into ensuring that the Karabakh conflict zone remains free from foreign peacekeeping troops. Iran has repeatedly made strongly worded statements in this regard.

Muslim solidarity is part of Iran’s politics, but on the other hand in Tehran they realize the potential threat from Azerbaijan, which vows fraternal relations with Sunni-dominated, secular Turkey that seeks leadership in the Islamic world.

http://www.armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/29656/iran_armenia_karabakh_borders

[Persopolis]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

The Arabs are a very diverse peoples and most Arabs where not originally 'Arabs' and where Arabized, such as the Arabized Berbers (Moors), Egyptians and the Syro-Lebanese.

100% agree.

It's also worth noting that Western Semitic peoples of the fertile crescent and Mesopotamia, such as the Assyrians. Have little in common with the Arabs in Arabia.

100% agree.

At least to my knowledge the Tajik's are by the most ethnically intact of the Persian peoples and rumors of the eurasiatic Aryan hordes, demise have it seems been greatly exaggerated.

The singing in the video you posted is not Persian: not sure what it has to do with Tajiks. And I don't know what you mean by "ethnically intact" - but Persians are alive and well in Iran - Iran is huge, it's mountainous, and even when it suffered invasions its population was vastly spread-out, protected by heavy mountain ranges, and Iran ultimately vanquished invaders. The Tajiks in Afghanistan are doing well and want to rejoin Iran; and the Tajiks in Tajikistan want to reunite with Iran.

These are Tajik (Persian) women in Afghanistan - as you can see they are civilized and not like the Taliban savages: compare it to the Taliban cutting ears off, burning women alive, and forcing them to wear a giant blue blanket over their faces. The best thing that can happen is for Persian culture to reassert itself in Afghanistan and for the extremist elements to be ousted.

If you look at youtube, you will see many videos from the Tajiks stating want to reunite with Iran (I'm sure Mos will love this idea ) My guess is that in the next 50 years you will see Iran's eastern border stretch to China. I can honestly say that the majority of the people I encounter from Tajikistan and the Persian controlled portions of Afghanistan want that, and want to be a part of the developed world.

TRANSLATION: He reads a poem in Persian that says "My mother land is Aryan land."

[Artsakh]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Iranian Envoy Again Visits Armenia

A special envoy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Armenia and held talks with its leaders for the second time in less than three months on Friday.


Official Armenian sources said Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad-Reza Sheibani discussed with President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian the current state of Armenian-Iranian relations as well as regional security.

Sarkisian was cited by his press office as telling Sheibani that frequent negotiations held by senior Armenian and Iranian government officials testify to “high-level relations existing between the two neighboring states.”

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandian welcomed the “dynamic development” of those relations at a separate meeting with the visiting Iranian diplomat. A ministry statement said he stressed the importance of bilateral economic cooperation on energy, transport and “a number of other areas.”

Both sources said the talks touched upon the implementation of agreements reached by Ahmadinejad and Sarkisian. They gave no further details.

The Armenian and Iranian presidents most recently met in Tehran in late March during official celebrations of the ancient Persian Nowruz holiday. Ahmadinejad was reported to have told Sarkisian that Tehran “has placed no limits on the development of cooperation with Yerevan” and wants to deepen ties between the two “friendly neighbors.”

Both leaders reaffirmed their governments’ plans to press ahead with more joint energy and transport projects. Those include the construction of two hydro-electric plants on the Arax river marking the Armenian-Iranian border and a pipeline that will ship Iranian fuel to Armenia.

Sheibani reportedly discussed these projects during his previous visit to Yerevan that took place in mid-February. Sarkisian’s office said at the time that unspecified “regional issues” were also on the agenda of his talks with the Armenian president.

Sheibani’s latest trip came ten days after another senior Iranian official, Deputy Defense Minister Reza Mozafari Nia, met with Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian in Yerevan. Few details of that meeting were made public.

An Armenian Defense Ministry official told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that it focused on the implementation of unpublicized agreements reached during Ohanian’s July 2010 visit to Tehran.

Relations with the Islamic Republic is a rare matter of national consensus in Armenia, reflecting its unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and strained relations with another Muslim neighbor, Turkey. With Amenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey closed for almost two decades, Iran remains one of the landlocked country’s two conduits to the outside world.

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24107841.html

[Persopolis]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Iran-Armenia: Geopolitics no impediment to mutually beneficial partnership

Diplomats call Iran’s position in the Karabakh conflict a balancing act. The Islamic Republic that has in its northern parts a 20-million community of Turkic-speaking Shia Azeris with separatists tendencies has managed to maintain good relations with Christian Armenia as well. A recent statement by a representative of the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Ardebil, however, has somewhat marred the relations between the two neighboring states. Friday prayer imam Seyyid Hasan Ameli stated Iran helped Azerbaijan during the Karabakh war. * * *

Not sure how true this is - the statement might have been made simply to quell Pan-Turkic sentiment on Iran's Northern Border.

There are no shortage of stories like the one below that indicate that Iran and Azerbaijan are not at all on friendly terms: hard to imagine Iran's military helping Azerbaijan against Armenia. Sounds like BS. And Armenia's leadership would show a different outward view of Iran if that was the case. The story above just reads like BS.

Azerbaijan has deported two Iranian clerics for their "subversive" activities in the country, the opposition daily Yeni Musavat reported on 26 May, quoting "a very serious source". http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-200652404.html

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israeli–Azerbaijani trade, security, and diplomatic ties have raised Iran’s ire and exposed Azerbaijan and the Israeli assets there to terrorist threats. Azerbaijani security forces, in cooperation with Israel, have thwarted several Iranian-backed terrorist operations in that country, but there are reasons to believe that radical Islamic terrorist groups continue to operate in Azerbaijan at Iran’s behest. Israel should not only continue its successful joint security efforts with the government of Azerbaijan, but should also employ ‘soft power’ to enhance its positive image among the population and to counter Iranian influence. http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/docs/perspectives110.pdf

So Iran + Israel + Turkey + the US were all allied with Azerbaijan against Armenia at the same time? Doesn't make sense.

Officials in Azerbaijan are carrying out an anti-Iran campaign on state-controlled news outlets. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62889

Iran has put Ghadir class Submarines and frigates in the Caspian sea ... given that Armenia doesn't have a Navy, the only rational conclusion is to threaten Azerbaijan (not to help Azerbaijan). News stories like the one above are more fluff than anything -- let's be serious: If Iran had directly intervened in the NK war, 1 division of the Iranian army would have wiped out the losing side in a week.

[Persopolis]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Iran recently hosted the first Kish Island Film Festival to promote Cinema from Asia and North Africa. I was surprised to come across some great film makers from Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

http://dearcinema.com/article/a-jurors-diary-from-film-festival-in-iran/1023

[gegev]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Not sure how true this is - the statement might have been made simply to quell Pan-Turkic sentiment on Iran's Northern Border.

There are no shortage of stories like the one below that indicate that Iran and Azerbaijan are not at all on friendly terms: hard to imagine Iran's military helping Azerbaijan against Armenia. Sounds like BS. And Armenia's leadership would show a different outward view of Iran if that was the case. The story above just reads like BS.

Yes, agree, it is BS!

[Artsakh]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

Not sure how true this is - the statement might have been made simply to quell Pan-Turkic sentiment on Iran's Northern Border.

Ayatollah Ameli played up to Azeris, Armenian expert says

May 10, 2011 - 12:06 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The statement by Iranian Ayatollah Seyed Hassan Ameli should be viewed as a show of respect put up for the benefit of Azerbaijanis, who, inspired by the perspective of starting an Islamic revolution in the country, are worried over any sort of Iranian-Armenian cooperation, an expert said.

As Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Ayatollah Ameli decided to play up to Azerbaijanis to refute accusations of ‘betrayal of Islamic values’.

“During Karabakh war, Iran provided Armenia's food safety. No military cooperation was discussed at the time. However, last autumn Azerbaijan requested Iran for a pass-through for a quick march to Fizuli, Jebrail and Zangelan and was refused point-blank,” the expert stressed.

Recently, Iranian Ayatollah Seyed Hassan Ameli stated that Iran supplied weapons to Azeri troops who experienced armament shortage while fighting in battles for Shushi.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/politics/news/69470/Ayatollah_Ameli_played_up_to_Azeris_Armenian_expert_says

[Artsakh]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

BRAVO IRAN!!!!

i am willing to bet that the recent azeri provocations got their orders from outside. connect all the dots: cutting aid to armenia amidst a dual blockade on the grounds of not meeting democratic standards, when infact Armenia is the most democratic country in the caucasus, while at the same time approving the sattelite deal while azerbaboonistan continues provocative actions and encouraging the dictatorship that exists in that so called country. in cutting aid to armenia is in effect joining in on the azero turkish blockadings, trying to squeeze armenia. IT WON"T WORK! Mossad and CIA agents intent may be to stir trouble to bring in international peacekeepers, from where they will also keep an eye on iran.

i like it how its put: The US has never been anything other than a stranger to Armenia and it has been an active problem for Armenia due to its excessively Turkophile foreign policy since 1947. Private aid from Armenian Americans is more reliable and has been pouring in at around 300 million a year. The US will lose whatever leverage it has in the country; and its place will be taken by Russia, China and Iran. The next time Armenia deals with Iran, the US will not be able to threaten aid cut off. Worse yet, the lack of US involvement there means that future conflicts in Georgia will entail bribing the Laz to smuggle out Americans in contrast to August 2008. In less than 2 years, this decision will be severely regretted, but by then it will be too late.


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Karabakh conflict should be resolved based on dialogue, non-use of force and respect for people’s right to self-determination-Iranian Embassy

YEREVAN. “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be settled through a dialogue, non-use of force and respect for the people’s right to self-determination,” Iranian embassy in Armenia said in a statement.

“The Iranian Embassy in Armenia reiterates that Iran’s president, foreign minister and spokesman for the foreign ministry express Iran’s official stance on foreign policy. Any statement made outside of these frameworks, is an expression of personal opinion.

Iran’s foreign policy with respect to all regional conflicts was based on support for mediatory efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region, conflict resolutions, as well as dialogue between the parties. The evidence thereof are Iran’s steps, aimed at resolving the internal conflicts in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Iran has always upheld the position that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be settled based on a dialogue, non-use of force and respect for the right to self-determination. Since Iran is the only state that has a common border with the conflict zone, Iran expresses concern over any provocation and creation of tension in the region. It will not allow such provocations to become an occasion for presence of foreign forces in the region,” the Embassy said.

http://www.news.am/eng/news/59332.html

[Eddo211]

Re: Iranian-Armenian relations

The wiki article on Karabakh war has decided to include 'Iran' as supporter of azerbaijan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_War

The reason appears to be from these two sources (citations 2,3 next to Iran), both related to what this Ameli figure had said about Iran supplying the Afghan fighters. I don't agree with Wiki.

http://news.am/eng/news/58787.html

http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/29656/iran_armenia_karabakh_borders