Armenia and Iran are facing isolation issue

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Armenian-Iranian relations should be viewed from several viewpoints - common challenges, common interests, development and perspectives of strategic relations between two neighboring states," Director of Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), Richard Giragosian said during "Perspectives of Armenian Iranian relations" discussion.



"Armenia and Iran are currently facing isolation issues; Armenia is blockaded by two neighboring states: Turkey and Azerbaijan and West is imposing economic sanctions on Iran. Besides, both Armenia and Iran are in an unstable region, especially after 2008's August events in Georgia," the expert noted.



According to Richard Giragosian, not only the settlement of NKR conflict and Turkey's increased activity in the region but also internal political issues are a challenge for Armenia. "Iran has also faced a number of geopolitical issues, specifically its exclusion from Turkey-suggested stability and collaboration platform in Caucasus," he emphasized. The expert stressed the necessity of Yerevan and Tehran's participation in regional projects.



"To develop Armenian - Iranian relations, 4 aspects should be noted. First, development of transportation and communication between the countries. Armenia -Iran railway construction program is a promising project not only for the two countries. It's a specific corridor, connecting the North and the South," the expert noted. "The second aspect is collaboration in the sphere of energetic. Everyone understands that Nаbucco implementation would hardly be possible without Iranian gas."



Speaking of the third aspect, ACNIS Director emphasized the necessity of increasing investment and product turnover volumes between Armenia and Iran. "Product Turnover volumes between our countries comprised only $ 227 million. Armenian Government has to undertake certain steps to improve the situation," he said adding that development of political dialogue between Yerevan and Tehran is one of the primary aspects of the development of bilateral strategic relations.