Pashinyan Gives Interview to Leading Iranian Media

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has given an interview to leading Iranian media outlets during their visit to Yerevan, specifically to journalists from Iran’s state TV and radio company (IRIB), Press TV, the state news agency IRNA, and the newspapers Etemad and Donya-e Eghtesad.

During the interview, the Prime Minister assessed the current level of Armenian-Iranian relations, noting that over the past year, he has engaged in effective discussions on mutually interesting agenda items during phone conversations and meetings with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Speaking about current projects, the Prime Minister mentioned that after a certain slowdown, the construction of the third electricity transmission line between Iran and Armenia is now proceeding at a rapid pace, also highlighting the effective cooperation in the “gas-for-electricity” format.

“There are several projects that we are actively discussing with our Iranian partners, and we hope to reach a common agreement on these projects,” the Prime Minister noted regarding future programs and added that both countries have significant opportunities to ensure substantial economic results within the framework of the EAEU, emphasizing that an invitation was also sent to the Iranian President to visit Armenia for the upcoming meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council to be held in Yerevan in October.

In another part of the interview, Prime Minister Pashinyan presented the official position of Yerevan regarding the Artsakh conflict, addressing security issues and explaining Armenia’s stance on the prospects of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Regarding the processes aimed at resolving the Artsakh conflict, the Prime Minister outlined the official position of Yerevan, stating that “any agreement reached around the Artsakh conflict must be acceptable to Armenia, Artsakh, and Azerbaijan.” In this context, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that Baku’s actions have yet to create favorable conditions for negotiations on the final resolution of the issue.

The Armenian Prime Minister also referred to the prospects of relations with Turkey, stating that Armenia has repeatedly declared its readiness to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions, while emphasizing that this does not mean Armenia is abandoning its policy aimed at the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. At the same time, the Prime Minister highlighted that the issue of the Armenian Genocide does not solely concern Armenian-Turkish relations; Armenia views this issue from the perspective of international security as well.

It should be noted that the visit of the Iranian journalists to Yerevan was organized by the Public Relations and Information Center of the Government of Armenia.