Friday, March 1 2019 14:47

ArmInfo. The involving Russia in  cooperation between Armenia and Iran is an ideal step towards  increasing the country's regional significance. Head of the Iranian  Studies Department of Yerevan State University, leading Armenian  expert on Iran Vardan Voskanyan expressed such opinion to ArmInfo.

"In this light, the Tehran discussions of Armenian Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani regarding the  implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between Iran and the EEU  are very significant and important. Considering that Armenia is the  only EEU country bordering Iran, and Tehran, this agreement opens up  very big opportunities for Armenia, "he stressed.

According to the Iranian expert, in this light, the strategic  relations between the founder of the EEU, Russia and Armenia increase  the weight of Armenia, giving Yerevan the opportunity to speak on  behalf of the EEU. Thus, according to his estimates, both bilateral  cooperation with Moscow and cooperation within the framework of the  EAEU, in turn, contribute to the deepening of Armenian-Iranian  relations.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is visiting Iran on  February 27-28, met with the highest political and spiritual  leadership of the country. Following the talks held on February 27,  the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani,  expressed his readiness to increase gas supplies to Armenia.   According to him, the new gas supply will allow expanding electricity  to gas barter between Armenia and Iran. Tehran is also ready to  discuss trilateral cooperation for the export of gas to Georgia,  transit through Armenia. In terms of cooperation in the field of  energy, the parties considered the possibilities of the energy  corridor Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia, the transport and logistics  from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.

Commenting on the possible consequences of the US reaction to the  deepening of the Armenian-Iranian agenda, the Iranian expert noted  that the centuries-long cooperation between Armenia and Iran leaves  little chance for Washington to somehow resist this process.  "We are  talking about extensive political, trade, economic, cultural  interaction, commonality of our peoples. It is very important that  the political rapprochement of our countries is based on similar  positions on a number of key problems in international relations.  Cooperation in international organizations and as Nikol Pashinyan's  visit to Iran showed, bilateral, highest level ", Iranian expert  concluded.  According to estimates by Iranian Trade Attache in  Armenia, Mohsen Rahimi, in 2018, the trade turnover between Iran and  Armenia reached $ 364 million, which is an unprecedented indicator  since 1991. $ 269 million of this amount accounted for Iranian  exports to Armenia.