Serzh Sargsyan: Iran very important country for Armenia

“Iran is a very important country for Armenia. Not only because we have been neighbors for many centuries but also for other reasons. In fact Iran is one of the two countries through which we communicate with the outer world. To have problems with Iran means to further narrow the pipe through which Armenia breathes. That is why we constantly repeat it to our European partners, U.S., and Russia. And our relations are known to everybody,” President Serzh Sargsyan told the Ekho Moskvy Russian radio station.

President Sargsyan noted that a very large Armenian Diaspora lives in Iran.

“Certainly, they are Iranian citizens but the Armenian state is to some extent responsible for the Armenians who live in this or that country, and we are just obliged not to provoke bad actions towards that community,” S. Sargsyan said.

Mentioning that we have good economic relations with Iran the President told about major infrastructure projects Armenia is going to implement with the Iranian side.

“We have reached an agreement on building Armenia-Iran railway. We have launched joint construction of a hydro-electric power plant on Arax River. We also have other projects of great importance for Armenia’s economy,” Serzh Sargsyan stated.

The President stressed that relations with Iran are very important for us because Azerbaijanis, depending on the auditorium, try to represent the Nagorno Karabakh issue in different aspects.

“At the Organization of the Islamic Conference, at the meetings of Turkish-speaking states, and in the Islamic circles in general, they try to represent the NK issue as a religious one, as a conflict between regions,” President said.

“For us, it is a possibility to represent first of all the truth, and, second, the confirmation of the policy Armenia has been constantly conducting to make our citizens feel comfortable in Arab countries, in the Near East. And we didn’t have a religious conflict. In the very Iran, churches have been built, Armenians had a possibility to preserve their identity, language, culture, traditions,” Serzh Sargsyan said.