Friday, October 4 2019 17:03

ArmInfo. The Yerevan statements of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani were quite remarkable and contained a number of messages. Vardan Voskanyan, Head of the  Department of Iranian Studies at Yerevan State University, expressed  a similar opinion ArmInfo.

"In particular, regarding Armenia's transit opportunities, which were  especially emphasized in the official information published in Iran  following Rouhani's visit to Armenia. The development of relations  with Armenia and the EAEU as a whole is very important for Iran under  international sanctions. For Tehran, this is, of course , an  opportunity, at least, to significantly ease the pressure and  consequences of these sanctions, "he stressed.

On October 1, a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council was  held in Yerevan with the participation of the leaders of 5 EAEU  member states, as well as invited guests: Iranian President Hassan  Rouhani, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Moldovan  President Igor Dodon.

According to Voskanyan, the activation of foreign policy of the  Iranian president towards Armenia and the EAEU took place against the  background of the parallel arrest of his brother on charges of  corruption.  According to the expert, in the light of the internal  political struggle in the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is extremely  important for President Rouhani to strengthen his own positions by  achieving specific foreign policy results. In this light, according  to Voskanyan, on October 1 there was a coincidence of the personal  interests of Rouhani and the interests of the development of  Armenian-Iranian cooperation. According to him, such a coincidence is  fully consistent with the process of strengthening the position of  Armenia in the region.

The expert is also optimistic about  Interim Free Trade Agreement  between the EAEU and Iran, which will come into force on October 27.  According to his forecasts, a significant reduction in protective  duties on goods from Armenia and the EAEU will create additional  opportunities for Armenian producers. According to him, at least for  3 years (the term of the agreement ed. note), manufacturers from  Armenia will be able to to develop their business in the direction of  the 80 millionth Iranian market.

"The agenda of economic relations between Iran and Armenia is rather  rich. And, of course, one of the main topics here is the energy  sector. Unfortunately, the commissioning of the third power line  between our countries is delayed, at least until 2020. Meanwhile, the  successful development of the project "gas in exchange for  electricity" depends precisely on the timing of the completion of the  construction of the third power transmission line, "the expert  concluded.