Author: Khoyetsian Rose

 13:18, 19 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Special Aide to the Speaker of Parliament of Iran on International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, condemning Armenia’s decision to open an Embassy in Israel, stated that it contradicts the interests of the people of Palestine. The Iranian official also noted that the opening of Armenian Embassy in Tel Aviv will negatively affect the regional security.

Expert on Iranian studies Armen Israyelyan gave an interview to Armenpress on the topic.

-What is the influence of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Iran’s foreign policy, and whether his position can be considered as Iran’s official position?

-Until 2016 Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was serving as Iran’s deputy foreign minister, coordinating the relations with the Arab states and Africa. He was enjoying the full support of both the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (ICRC) and the conservatives and his tough positions and non-diplomatic wording sometimes resulted in tension in the relations between Iran and the Arab states of the Middle East. It’s worth noting that at that time Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was dismissed when after the signing of the nuclear deal Hassan Rouhani’s government was trying to normalize the relations with the Arab countries. And it’s not a coincidence that his dismissal was greatly approved in the Middle East.

In recent years the manifestations of dual power in Iran are more noticeable. And the statement of this official can be viewed within this logic. There are many examples when in the past one decade any member of Parliament or a law enforcement official, even Ambassador accredited in foreign countries, are making statements contradicting the official position of Iran. Of course, in such cases the Iranian foreign ministry announces that “Tehran’s position has not changed”, but this situation cannot be understood by the partner countries. And the contradictory statements coming from Tehran can affect the relations with the partner countries and also endanger Iran’s interests in the South Caucasus.

Iran is aware long ago about Armenia’s decision to open an Embassy in Israel, in this sense official Yerevan is working transparently with all its partners, and Armenia’s regional policy priorities have been clearly presented at the highest level of leadership. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s “surprise” over Armenia’s relations with Israel is surprising because the former deputy FM, while talking about the Armenia-Israel relations, tries to counter them against the interests of Palestine, in case when as the last meeting of the Armenian President and the President of the Palestine National Authority shows, there is no misunderstanding in the bilateral relations.

-In that case, what stands behind this statement, and why it is made now?

-Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s statement was followed by a similar statement on Twitter by Conservative MP Ruhollah Mutafaqer Azad and manipulative assessments at expert-level in websites operating under ICRC on the Israel-Armenia relations. Political reshuffles are taking place in Iran. A new parliament has been elected where conservatives are a majority. Taking into account the “campaign” launched against FM Zarif in the past one year, it’s obvious that at the completion of Rouhani’s tenure an attempt is made to deprive the foreign ministry from the independence it gained since 2013.

Currently Iran wants to get rid of the US sanctions with the help of partner states. For that purpose Iran has applied to the member states of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) through Azerbaijan (NAM chairing country), proposing to adopt a joint statement over the US policy. However, several countries of the Middle East rejected the proposal. Maybe, this angered the pro-ICRC circles and not receiving a foreign support they targeted the Armenia-Israel relations without understanding.

We would advise the respectful Iranian parliamentarians, before expressing an opinion on Armenia’s actions, to assess the policy of some neighbor countries of Iran while talking about the regional security and compare them with Armenia’s regional policy.

 21:04,

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. The second patient to have recovered from the novel coronavirus in Armenia will be discharged today, March 21, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases so far stands at 160, with 158 being active after this recovery. The first patient recovered on March 15th. The remaining patients are hospitalized.

“Today we are discharging our second recovered patient, whose test results came back negative,” Torosyan said, adding that the patient’s mother – who was quarantined with the patient for 21 days in the same room – will also be discharged. The mother of the patient never even tested positive. “All her tests were negative to this day,” Torosyan said, not ruling out the possibility that the woman might have had contracted the virus but it went unnoticed due to speedy recovery.

“I wish good health to all other patients and I thank our epidemiologists and infectious diseases specialists for their work. I advise all other citizens to maintain personal protection measures, as well as the rules of the state of emergency,” Torosyan said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 19:35, 12 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS. A 51-year-old Azerbaijani woman who repatriated from Iran has died from the novel coronavirus, according to Report news outlet.

The patient also suffered from an underlying health condition – lupus.

According to the report the woman’s health deteriorated rapidly as her immune system began failing, which led to lung failure. Her family members have been quarantined.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 18:18,

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Maja Gojkovic within the framework of the official visit to Serbia on March 9-11 .

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, welcoming the Armenian delegation, Maja Gojkovic noted that this is already the second meeting after the one held in the frameworks of the Inter-Parliamentary Union sitting. The Head of the legislative body of Serbia noted that the two peoples have historical warm relations.

Maja Gojkovic recalled the assistance shown to Armenia by the Serbian people after 1988 Spitak earthquake, and during its transportation the Serbian pilots fell victims of the plane crash. She added that Armenia in its turn was one of the countries that showed humanitarian aid to those who suffered from the disastrous flood in Serbia several years ago.

In his turn the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia  thanked his colleague for the invitation and warm reception and reaffirmed the friendly ties existing between the two peoples, where the Armenian community in Serbia that gets support from official Belgrade, also plays its role. Ararat Mirzoyan noted that the potential of huge political and economic cooperation exists between the two countries which confidently should be called into life with joint efforts. The process of visa abolishment is also characteristic between the two countries.

The parties discussed the perspectives of deepening the relations between the two countries, the possible economic cooperation, the more intensive cooperation of the two parliaments at bilateral level between the Friendship Groups and Standing Committees, as well as on multilateral platforms.

While touching upon the conflicts of Kosovo and Nagorno Karabakh the heads of the two countries’ parliaments agreed that despite the differences existing between them, the peaceful negotiations have no alternative and have reached an agreement at least not to harm each other’s interests on the international platforms.

At the end of the meeting Ararat Mirzoyan and Maja Gojkovic signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments and made statements for the press.

Let us note that before the launch of the official meeting the heads of the two parliaments laid flowers in memory of the pilots who fell victims during the plane crash in 1988.

 16:47, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s ministry of education, science, culture and sport has not yet made a decision on restricting the people’s visits to cultural facilities due to the first case of novel coronavirus confirmed in Armenia, deputy minister Narine Khachaturyan told Armenpress.

“Today we had a consultation with the minister and a decision was made that contrary to the educational institutions, the cultural facilities will not close. In line with this we have information that people cancel their preliminary agreements, return their tickets. At this stage we left it up to the visitors and audience to decide whether they want to visit cultural places or not”, she said.

The deputy minister also said that today they met with the directors of museums and concert halls and they told them the same. The directors of these facilities state that many tickets are returned back, and many performances were cancelled due to lack of audience.

First case of novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Armenia on March 1. The patient arrived in Armenia from Iran.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan