On July 21-23, “APRI Armenia” analytical center jointly with the Iranian Embassy in Yerevan held a closed expert seminar in Kapan with the participation of Iranian specialists on the topic “Iranian-Armenian strategic partnership in the South Caucasus in the light of geopolitical and geoeconomic transformations”.

At the core of the discussion were issues related to bilateral relations, including economy, energy, transport communications and information interaction.

The participants of the event did not ignore the activity of regional and extra-regional actors in the South Caucasus. Iranian Ambassador to Yerevan Khalil Shirgholami and Syunik Marz Governor Robert Ghukasyan referred to the environmental changes and dynamic geopolitical developments in the South Caucasus, noting the need to adapt the special relations between Iran and Armenia to new realities for the further development of strategic partnership.

Baku commentator Hayal Bashirov kwith urine՝ The holding of the meeting in Kapan testifies to Tehran’s desire to maintain an active influence on the processes in the South Caucasus. allegedly, Iran is concerned about the prospect of opening the Zangezur Corridor, as it believes that the implementation of this project may reduce its transit importance.

M:one of the organizers of the event, orientalist Sergey Melkonyan from the post follows: «The publications appearing in the Azerbaijani mass media, which allegedly contain «insider» information, even one percent do not reflect the actual content of the discussion and are solely the product of the imagination of their authors. And the critical nature of the articles proves once again that we are on the right track»։

Must be noticed՝ Armenian-Iranian contacts have recently become active not only at the expert level. Shirgholamin within the framework of the visit to Syunik was In the “Noravan” substation, which is part of the third project of the construction of the power transmission line between Armenia and Iran.

The diplomat got acquainted with the works carried out within the framework of the project, the recorded progress, as well as the new stage of implementation. Appreciating the efforts of the responsible persons, he emphasized the need to speed up the implementation process of the project and urged the responsible persons to make more efforts to complete it on time.

The substation is part of the project to build a 1100 megawatt 400 kV power transmission line between Iran and Armenia. The 270 km long power transmission line starts from Norduz on the Iranian border and extends to Yerevan. And recently the Iranians proposed a new trade scheme to Armenia for increasing natural gas supplies. this was reported by the Iranian Mehr Agency, based on the results of the meeting between Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and RA Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure in Tehran.

The Iranian minister emphasized that the current energy cooperation between the countries has long been carried out on the principle of gas and electricity exchange, but Tehran has put forward an alternative model aimed at increasing the volume of gas exports. In addition, according to Paknejad, the parties agreed to form a joint working group and start its work as soon as possible in order to get concrete results for evaluation in the next round of negotiations.

According to the official information, “prospective directions of energy interaction: expansion of bilateral trade in energy products, export of technical and engineering services, construction of oil refining capacities and supply of oil products to Armenia” were also discussed during the meeting. The details of the agreements or joint projects have not yet been officially clarified.

There, the parties “agreed to create a joint specialized working group and proposed to start its work as soon as possible so that concrete results can be assessed during the next round of bilateral negotiations,” Paknejad stated, clarifying that so far in this field the partnership of the two countries “for many years operated almost exclusively in the scheme of “gas for electricity”, but now Iran has offered Armenia a new commercial model aimed at expanding the export of natural gas”.

The details are also still not made public, but it is known that the initial talk refers to Iranian gas supplies for a number of branches of Armenia and its utility-household sector, as well as the creation of a new “gas-electric” gas transmission line (overhead transmission line) from Armenia to Iran (two transmission lines have been supplying Iran with electricity produced from Iranian gas for more than 10 years).

Paknejad highly appreciated Armenia’s support to Iran in the current difficult times. In the conditions of sanctions against Iran and the difficult situation prevailing in the South Caucasus, Armenia remains a reliable partner for Tehran.

Iran’s Minister of Roads Farzane Sadegh discussed with his Armenian counterpart the construction of a second bridge over the Arakhs River on the border, which will increase capacity and promote economic cooperation.: At the same time in Syunik region continues The construction of the Kajaran-Agarak road section, in which Iran takes a significant part. This route connects Iran with Armenia, then with Georgia and Russia.

Then, Iranian Minister of Energy Abbas Aliabadi and Davit Khudatyan discussed issues related to the further development of joint energy projects. The parties emphasized the need to accelerate the implementation and completion of the 12-year project for the construction of the third power transmission line, and also decided to continue cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the project.

The Minister of Energy of Iran raised the capacity of 200 megawatts «M:esend» the issue of the joint construction of a hydroelectric power station (on the border of Araks), and the Armenian side, referring to the “earlier agreements, has announced its readiness to cooperate in the construction of that power plant”. According to Aliabadi, “a company in Oman has announced its willingness to finance and implement the construction project of the Meghri power plant.”

During the meeting, the issue of creating the Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia electric energy corridor was also discussed. In this regard, Tehran announced that it is ready for the construction of the power transmission line between Armenia and Georgia to be carried out by Iranian companies.

Within the framework of the meeting, the Minister of Energy, noting that Iran and Armenia are “two neighboring, brotherly countries with a long history of friendly relations and cooperation”, clarified that “we are interested in one of the most important projects is Iran’s power grid with northern countries (keeping in mind the Caucasus neighbors.– ed.) and Armenia is one of the main links of this route.

In addition to Armenia, other countries also participate in this project, and we are discussing the possibility of launching a project connecting Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia.”

For Yerevan, the deepening of cooperation with Iran opens up opportunities for diversification of energy resources and transportation routes. in:turning into a transit corridor between Iran and the Northern markets can theoretically become a source of stable income and geopolitical weight:

In recent years, Armenia has been actively trying to diversify foreign economic ties, which coincides with Iran’s intention to expand its presence in the regional energy market. notices Telegram channel “Zangezur Gambit”. So far, only the idea is being discussed, the implementation of which is “impossible without serious investments in energy infrastructure and technical coordination between all participants.” …If we are really talking about the route that should connect Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, the question of the political will of all parties inevitably arises.

Any such project requires agreed decisions, as it affects the interests of several states at once. Moreover, the fact of the appearance of such statements shows that Iran considers Armenia not only as a neighbor, but also as a potential energy hub of the South Caucasus.”

If that concept gets practical development, Armenia’s role in regional energy may increase, however «today it is important not to change perspective with reality. For now, this is a political initiative and a subject of negotiations, not a ready-made international project.

The main intrigue is whether՞Will the current announcements turn into concrete agreements, infrastructure construction and real investments, or will they remain just another nice geopolitical idea?»։

Alexey Baliev

vpoanalytics.com

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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