Monday,
Armenian FM Joins Talks On Caucasus Peace In Iran
• Tatevik Lazarian
IRAN - The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Russia
meet in Tehran, .
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan joined his Azerbaijani, Iranian, Russian and
Turkish counterparts in meeting on Monday in Tehran for talks on peace and
stability in the South Caucasus.
The multilateral talks were held within the framework of the so-called
“Consultative Regional Platform 3+3” launched in December 2021 in Moscow.
Georgia continues to boycott the platform, citing continuing Russian occupation
of its breakaway regions.
“The war in the South Caucasus is now over and the time has come for peace,
cooperation and development in the Caucasus,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian was reported to say at the start of the talks.
“We believe that problems in this region can be resolved without external
interference. This is part of the message of today’s meeting in the 3+3 format,”
he said, underscoring Iran’s strong opposition to Western presence in the
region, which is shared by Russia.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi likewise described it as “harmful for regional
peace and stability” when he met with Mirzoyan earlier in the day, according to
Iranian news agencies.
Amid its deepening rift with Moscow, the Armenian leadership now seems to be
pinning hopes on Western efforts to broke a resolution of its conflict with
Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed hope last week that he and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet in Brussels again and finalize a
bilateral peace treaty before the end of this year.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov questioned the European Union’s ability
to facilitate the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, a key
remaining obstacle to the signing of the treaty.
“Let them try their luck in Brussels, if they want to, but we are always ready
to help start the real delimitation,” he told reporters after the Tehran meeting.
Lavrov said that these and other sticking points in Armenian-Azerbaijani
negotiations were not “directly” discussed by the five ministers.
“There are other channels for doing this. But the platform itself helps resolve
remaining issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” added the top Russian diplomat.
Mirzoyan held a separate meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on
the sidelines of the Tehran conference, which coincided with the start of a
fresh Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercise held near Armenia’s borders. His
press office reported no such meetings with Lavrov or Azerbaijan’s Jeyhun
Bayramov as of 10 p.m. local time.
Armenia Signs First Arms Deal With France
France - French Defense Minsiter Sebastien Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart
Suren Papikian sign a memorandum of understanding in Paris, .
France pledged to boost Armenia’s air defenses, train Armenian military
personnel and help the South Caucasus country reform its armed forces as the
French group Thales and Yerevan signed a contract for the purchase of three
radar systems on Monday.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren
Papikian also signed a “letter of intent” on the future delivery of Mistral
short-range surface-to-air missiles.
They gave no financial or other details of these deals during a joint news
conference held after their talks in Paris. Lecornu emphasized the defensive
character of what will be first-ever Western-manufactured major weapons supplied
to Armenia.
“It is a weapon system which, by its very nature, can only be used when there is
an aggression against Armenian territory and often with civilian populations
underneath,” he said, alluding to the risk of Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia.
Lecornu also announced that France will train Armenian officers to operate the
military equipment known for its “remarkable detection capabilities” and assist
in ongoing reforms of the Armenian armed forces. A special French military
official will advise the Armenian Defense Ministry on those reforms, he said,
adding that French instructors will be sent to Armenia to teach its troops new
combat techniques.
The French government first signaled arms supplies to Armenia last year
following large-scale fighting on the country’s border with Azerbaijani which
resulted in Azerbaijani territorial gains. It gave the green light for them
following last month’s Azerbaijani military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh that
led to the restoration of Azerbaijani control over the region and displaced its
virtually entire ethnic Armenian population. French President Emmanuel Macron
suggested that Baku might now attack Armenia as well.
FRANCE - France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian prior to their meeting at the Elysee palace in Paris, September
26, 2022.
"France has given its agreement to the conclusion of future contracts with
Armenia which will allow the delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that
it can ensure its defense," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said
during an October 3 visit to Yerevan.
The Azerbaijani government condemned Colonna’s announcement as further proof of
Paris’s pro-Armenian bias in the Karabakh conflict. Baku itself has increased
its military expenditures after the 2020 Karabakh war, buying more weapons from
Turkey, Israel and possibly other countries.
Armenia is stepping up military cooperation with France, a major NATO member,
amid its worsening relationship with Russia, a longtime ally. The tensions stem
in large measure from what Yerevan sees as a lack of Russian support in the
conflict with Azerbaijan. Moscow’s failure to prevent, stop or even condemn the
Azerbaijani offensive in Karabakh only added to them.
Also, Armenian leaders have implied over the past year that Moscow has failed to
supply more weapons to Yerevan despite Russian-Armenian defense contracts signed
after the 2020 war in Karabakh. They have said they have no choice but to look
for alternative arms suppliers.
France, which is home to a sizable and influential Armenian community, has
become Armenia’s leading Western backer during Macron’s rule. Lecornu said on
Monday that it is committed to the South Caucasus nation’s territorial integrity
despite the fact that “we are not part of the same military and political
alliances .”
Iranian Firms To Rebuild Strategic Road In Armenia
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia - A view of Kajaran, a town in Syunik province.
The Armenian government has awarded a $215 million contact to a consortium of
two Iranian companies to upgrade a 32-kilometer section of the main highway
connecting Armenia to Iran through its endangered Syunik region.
A senior government official and top executives of those companies signed a
relevant agreement in Yerevan on Monday in the presence of Armenia’s Minister of
Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosian and Iran’s Minister
of Roads and Urban Development Mehrzad Bazrpash.
“We are very happy that … Iranian companies will carry out the construction of
this road section,” Sanosian said at the signing ceremony.
“Our neighbor, Armenia, is very important to us,” Bazrpash said, for his part.
“Armenia could play a key role in the framework of the [transnational]
North-South transport corridor. I hope that the project will be implemented
rapidly.”
Armenia - Amenian and Iranian officials attend a signing ceremony in Yerevan,
.
The project co-financed by the Armenian government and the Eurasian Development
Bank covers the highway section stretching from Agarak, an Armenian town
adjacent to the Iranian border, to the Kajaran mountain pass, the highest in
Armenia. About two-thirds of the road is to be expanded and modernized while the
remaining 11 kilometers will be built from scratch over the next three years. In
Sanosian’s words, the Iranians will construct 17 bridges and two tunnels in the
mountainous area.
Another, much longer tunnel planned by the Armenian side will cut through the
Kajaran pass. The government has organized an international tender for its
construction, which will further shorten travel time between the two neighboring
states.
Bazrpash also announced that the Yerevan and Tehran have agreed to build a new
bridge over the Arax river that marks the Armenian-Iranian border. The two
governments will set up a joint working group for that purpose, he told
reporters.
The Iranian minister’s presence at the signing ceremony appeared to also
underscore the geopolitical significance of the project.
Armenia - A view of the Arax river separating Armenia and Iran.
Azerbaijan’s recent takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh raised more fears in Yerevan
that Baku will also attack Armenia to open an exterritorial land corridor to
Nakhichevan passing through Syunik, the sole Armenian province bordering Iran.
Azerbaijani leaders regularly demand such a corridor. A senior Armenian diplomat
claimed on October 8 that an Azerbaijani attack on Syunik may be “a matter of
weeks.”
Iran has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of the common border and
transport links with Armenia. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reportedly told
visiting Armenian and Azerbaijani officials early this month that the corridor
sought by Baku is “resolutely opposed by Iran” because it would give NATO a
“foothold” in the region.
NATO member Turkey fully supports the Azerbaijani demands. Its troops began on
Monday a fresh military exercise with the Azerbaijani army in Nakhichevan and
parts of mainland Azerbaijan close to Syunik. The drills reportedly involve
3,000 soldiers and several Turkish F-16 warplanes.
The United States and the European Union voiced strong support for Armenia’s
territorial integrity following the latest escalation in Karabakh. The U.S.
State Department said on October 15 that “any infringement of that sovereignty
and territorial integrity would bring serious consequences.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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