Tehran and Isfahan Diocesan Leaders Refuse to Meet with Minister

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dispatched Armenia's Minister of Economy, Vahan Kerobyan, on a trip to Iran from January 22 to 26. During this visit, Kerobyan held discussions with the Iranian ministers of energy, industry, mines, and trade, as well as the governor of the Central Bank. However, Iranian media outlets have deemed the Armenian minister's visit and related information as secondary or tertiary news.

Furthermore, while Minister Kerobyan's scheduled meetings with Iranian officials took place, he did not receive a reception from the local Armenian community and the senior representatives of national authority.

Sources close to 168.am reported that, prior to Kerobyan's visit, Armenian Ambassador to Iran Artashes Tumanyan met with the national authority in Tehran and established contact with the national authority in New Julfa, in hopes that the diocesan leaders of Tehran and Isfahan would have at least a limited meeting with the delegation led by Minister Kerobyan. This request was categorically rejected.

In other words, the ambassador's efforts to arrange at least a brief meeting for an exchange of views were in vain. It was communicated that the arriving minister and his delegation were interested in visiting the St. Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran and the St. Savior Monastery in New Julfa. The response to the ambassador was that Kerobyan could visit the church and the monastery, but there would be no official meeting with him or his delegation because the national authorities perceive Armenia's Minister of Economy as a representative of capitulating, traitorous authorities, and a meeting with a representative of Nikol Pashinyan is excluded.

As a result, Vahan Kerobyan essentially visited the St. Savior Monastery as a tourist, since no one from the national authority welcomed him, and his visit to St. Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran was removed from the agenda. Minister Vahan Kerobyan wrote on his Facebook page that he had met with the Armenian business community in Iran at the 'Ararat' club in Tehran, attempting to understand how to strengthen economic ties, and they had lunch together. According to information from 168.am, the Armenian ambassador called to request that the 'Ararat' organization provide its hall for this meeting, which was granted; however, no members of the central governing board of the organization attended the meeting. Only 30-35 people participated, mainly business representatives who were personally invited by the embassy and attended solely out of business interest.