Monday, January 13 2020 17:26

ArmInfo. The interests of Armenia require the normalization of Iran- US relations, in view of the fact that Iran is the only country in the region interested in Armenian national security. Expert on Eastern studies Emma Begijanyan  expressed a similar opinion at today's expert discussion on the topic  "New confrontation between Iran and the USA".

Begijanyan noted that in the current Iranian-American crisis, Armenia  has correctly oriented itself, urging the parties to restraint. At  the same time, she noted that the Armenian leadership could act as an  intermediary in the negotiations between Iran and the United States.

According to expert estimates, the positions of Azerbaijan and Turkey  around the escalated conflict in the region coincide, which runs  counter to the position of Yerevan, which is interested in Iran  remaining a stable and independent state.

The expert recalled that Turkey was the first to respond and express  condolences over the assassination of the Iranian general, in  particular urging Iran not to leave the killing of Soleimani  unpunished. Thus, the expert believes, Turkey, warming up the  conflict, demonstrates its interest in weakening the role of Iran in  the region.

The expert noted that as the stronger the external and internal split  within the Islamic republic, the more effective will be the Turkish  and Azerbaijani expansion. "Ankara and Baku are making great efforts  to spread pan-Turkism in the Turkic-speaking regions of Iran through  cultural activities that are carried out there quite effectively,"  she said. Begijanyan cited an example of an incident in one of the  Iranian provinces, where a village headman allowed himself to speak  in Turkish against the background of the national flag of Turkey.

Begijanyan believes that after the assassination of Soleimani, the  Middle East plunged into uncertainty:  < Qasem Soleimaniwas the head  of the guard for protecting the Islamic revolution in Iran. In  addition, he was not only a commander, but also a strategist>.  Begijanyan recalled that after his assassination, relations with the  United States worsened, and all Iranian officials said they would  take revenge, and this revenge would be terrible.

Speaking about the rocket attack on US military bases in Iraq, the  expert believes that Tehran had notified Baghdad of planned attacks  in advance. <If Iran claims 60 casualties, while the American side  says that there was no loss of sweat, we can conclude that Iran cites  such figures using them for an internal audience.  If there really  were casualties, the United States would not be able to keep silent  about it>, she concluded.