Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Speaker of Parliament, South Korea’s new ambassador discuss ties

Yeghisabet Arthur
Politics14:38, 24 March 2026
Read the article in: فارسیFrançaisՀայերենქართულიRussian中文

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan held a meeting on Tuesday with South Korea’s newly appointed non-resident ambassador to Armenia, Lee Sok-bae.

According to a readout from the parliament’s press service, the Speaker congratulated the ambassador on his appointment and expressed hope that his work would contribute to the further strengthening and development of relations between the two countries.

They also discussed the development of interparliamentary ties, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

Read the article in: فارسیFrançaisՀայերենქართულიRussian中文

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Baku creates the illusion of protection from Tehran

Yeghisabet Arthur

Yesterday, the Armed Forces of the barbaric regime of Baku conducted ATS exercises in the sky of the Apsheron Peninsula and the capital city of Baku.


Although it is officially stated that they were pre-planned, it is clear that the exercises are aimed at a possible Iranian attack, since it is here that the main oil fields are located, which also serve a significant part of Israel’s needs.


At the very least, it seems ridiculous that Baku assumes that, figuratively speaking, under the nose of Iran, it is possible to protect its oil and gas infrastructures, when the Iranians are able to hit the Israeli Haifa oil refinery about 1000 kilometers away, or almost any similar infrastructure in the Persian Gulf region, in every country with a more developed air defense system.


So, I think that the exercises are aimed, first of all, at convincing one’s own society that the barbaric regime in Baku has sufficient defense capabilities against a possible Iranian threat.


Iranologist Vardan Voskanyan




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Eleveight AI deploys 512 Nvidia B300s at 2MW data center in Gagarin, Armenia

Yeghisabet Arthur
Data Center Dynamics
Mar 23 2026

Construction of facility slated for completion this month

March 23, 2026 

By

 

Charlotte Trueman

Armenian startup Eleveight AI has deployed 512 Nvidia B300s at its AI data center in Gagarin, Armenia. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed this month.

According to the company, the hardware is already on site in Armenia, with Eleveight noting that the facility housing the GPUs has been designed to run on a “renewable-heavy power mix” and can support high-density GPU operations at scale.

Eleveight’s data center in Gagarin, Armenia– Hetq

The startup added that this is the first Nvidia B300 deployment in the Armenia, marking a significant milestone in the country’s AI infrastructure development. The GPUs were brought in following “extensive preparation of the data center environment,” including power delivery, cooling systems, and operational monitoring.

Eleveight expects to make the new GPU capacity available to enterprise customers, startups, and research organizations from Q2 2026, although the company cautioned that demand is already exceeding initial 2MW capacity allocations.

“Armenia is stepping onto the global stage of AI infrastructure, and this project marks a defining move in that direction,” said Arman Aleksanian, CEO of Eleveight AI. “With the deployment of Nvidia’s latest B300 GPUs, we are building AI infrastructure that sets new global benchmarks for performance and capability.”

He added: “We focused first on getting the fundamentals right: power, cooling, and long-term stability. This is only the first step, and next year we plan to expand not only the project’s computing capacity but also its geographic reach.”

Founded in 2025, Eleveight AI says it is focused on developing AI-centric data center infrastructure in Gagarin, Armenia, providing GPU-based computing resources for commercial, startup, and research use cases.

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/eleveight-ai-deploys-512-nvidia-b300s-at-2mw-data-center-in-gagarin-armenia/

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The USA can involve Armenia and Azerbaijan in the anti-Iranian coalition. T:

Yeghisabet Arthur

March: 23, 2026

168TVof “Trigger” the guest of the program political scientist, deputy director of the Institute of World Military Economy and Strategy of the Higher School of Economics This is Georgi Asatryan.

The program discussed the role of Puritan heritage in the formation of the United States, the idea of ​​a “new Israel” as the basis of American identity, and the possible messianic nature of US foreign policy.

The strategic results of the unleashed Israeli-American war against Iran and the issue of achieving the set goals, the possibility of forming a new model of wars in the 21st century in the form of periodic short-term conflicts, the risks of uncontrolled escalation, as well as the potential impact of the conflict on Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of threats were also discussed.

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Reference was made to the role of Christian Zionism in contemporary world politics, as well as the nature of US international relations, whether they are partnerships or instrumentalization of other countries.

Hayk Derzyan




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The government threatens its own people with war on a daily basis – Tigran

Yeghisabet Arthur
Aysor, Armenia
Mar 20 2026

Tigran Abrahamyan, a deputy of the National Assembly from the I Have Honor faction, wrote: “The government threatens its own people with war on a daily basis.

They have turned blackmail into a tool for intimidating and subjugating people, and every second word is about war.

With the propaganda and justification of war, one force is operating in the Republic of Armenia – the ruling regime, which feeds on and operates according to the logic of war.”

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RFE/RL – Armenian Newspaper Editor Questioned Over Opinion Piece

Yeghisabet Arthur
Ruzanna Stepanian
March 17, 2026


Armine Ohanian, editor-in-chief of the Hraparak daily, is giving an interview to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, March 17, 2026.

Investigators in Armenia have interrogated the editor of a pro-opposition daily as part of a criminal probe into an editorial published more than a year ago in a case she believes may be linked to a pre-election crackdown on dissent.

Armine Ohanian, editor-in-chief of the Hraparak daily, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday that the Investigative Committee launched proceedings under a Criminal Code article concerning “public calls to seize power and overthrow the constitutional order with the use of mass media.” She said she was questioned as a witness.

Ohanian said the case was opened about a year ago in connection with an opinion article she wrote in late 2024, but that she had not previously been interrogated.

Although declining to discuss details due to the secrecy of the preliminary investigation, Ohanian contended that her article did not include any calls for a violent seizure of power.

The Investigative Committee has not publicly commented on the case.

Ohanian, whose newspaper is critical of the government, said she does not know what prompted the investigation.

“Now we live in times of denunciations,” she said, adding that she is not surprised by developments in what she described as an environment where “individuals can face prosecution or imprisonment for expressing their views.” She cited recent cases involving politicians and clergy jailed on similar charges.

Ohanian also suggested the investigation could be intended to intimidate media ahead of the June parliamentary elections.

“Maybe that was also the goal – to scare me. But I have no fear, it’s pointless,” she said.

Armenian officials dismiss accusations of a crackdown on dissent, insisting that the country enjoys significantly greater freedom of speech than under previous governments. At the same time, they stress that public calls for a violent overthrow of the government constitute a serious crime than needs to be dealt with.

Ohanian noted that the criminal probe coincides with a libel lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian against Hraparak. In that case initiated last summer Pashinian is seeking 1 million drams (about $2,600) in damages over a report concerning his private life.

“It is particularly regrettable that all this is being done by someone who once himself was an editor, who worked as a journalist and knows the principles of a journalist’s work,” Ohanian said, referring to Pashinian’s past career in journalism. She added that his earlier publications contained “much more calls for violence” than the editorial under investigation.

The case comes amid broader concerns about press freedom in Armenia. Two weeks earlier, a coalition of Western press freedom groups for the first time included Armenia on its list of countries in wider Europe jailing journalists or other media figures.

The Platform for the Safety of Journalists, which consists of 15 watchdogs, including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, cooperating with the Council of Europe, referred to the pre-trial detention of podcasters Vazgen Saghatelian and Narek Samsonian on hooliganism charges. The two currently stand trial for verbally abusing Parliament Speaker Alen Simonian in response to his personal insults.

Ashot Melikian, the chairman of the Yerevan-based Committee to Protect Freedom of _expression_, described Armenia’s inclusion on the list of journalist jailers as a blow to the country’s international reputation.

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In a shift, Armenia offers compensation to travellers stranded by Iran war

Yeghisabet Arthur
OC Media
Mar 9 2026

The Armenian government will provide up to ֏250,000 ($670) in financial compensation per person to Armenian citizens who were forced to book new tickets to return to Armenia after their original flights were cancelled amidst the Iran war. Earlier, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said it would be unfair to expect the government to cover such costs.

If the newly purchased tickets cost less, the compensation will equal the amount actually paid, Mirzoyan said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Saturday’s decision, however, marked an apparent U-turn from earlier remarks by Mirzoyan.

On 4 March, during a government–parliament Q&A session, Mirzoyan highlighted efforts to organise the safe return of Armenian nationals, but added that the government would not provide financial support to citizens stranded in Asia or the Middle East after flights were disrupted by the war in Iran that began on 28 February.

The remark came in response to a question from an MP who cited media reports claiming that it cost up to $1,400 for citizens to reach Yerevan.

‘I know a specific private case who has been in Sri Lanka for almost a month posting photos in a swimsuit as much as possible, that means they are financially capable, right? They can buy a ticket’, Mirzoyan said. He also assessed it as ‘a bit unfair toward the government’, further suggesting that many Armenians in those countries were likely there on vacation.

‘There will also be other groups and other segments, we will think about it and consider, of course, the issue of taking that financial burden on ourselves as well’, Mirzoyan said.

Three days after his statement, Mirzoyan announced his ministry’s initiative to compensate travel expenses, following online outcry highlighting that not all Armenian nationals can afford expensive holidays. Many plan trips a year in advance to secure affordable options.

One such post was made by Arpi Bekaryan, who was in Thailand on vacation with friends. She wrote in a Facebook post that planning the trip a year ahead allowed them to pay only $150 for flights and $550 for a 10-day hotel stay.

‘We never planned for tickets costing $1,000 or more. That didn’t fit our budget then, and it still doesn’t’, Bekaryan wrote, noting that after their cancelled flight, alternative flights to Armenia could cost at least $1,000. On top of that, they would need to cover additional expenses for extra days, including hotel and daily costs.

In addition to the newly adopted initiative to provide financial compensation, the Armenian authorities also provide a free bus transfer from Dubai, UAE, to Muscat Airport in Oman, a journey of around 400  kilometres, from where Armenian authorities secured flights to Armenia.

Highlighting the work of the Foreign Ministry assisting Armenian nationals since the beginning of the war,  Mirzoyan noted that flights no longer operate along the usual Muscat–Yerevan route due to increasing costs.

‘I was told that the cost of one flight is $170,000’, Mirzoyan said.

The flight from Oman is operated by FlyOne, an airline owned by the family of the ruling Civil Contract party MP Khachatur Sukiasyan, with tickets starting at €1,100 ($1,270), according to RFE/RL.

Over the weekend, the Armenian authorities also announced that from 28 February to 6 March, citizens of 41 countries departed Iran through Armenia, without specifying the number of evacuees.

Since the escalation, the Armenian–Iranian land border has closed for two times,  the Armenian authorities said the checkpoint was shut due to a technical failure on the Iranian side, with the crossing open only to lorries.

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7th U.S. service member killed in war with Iran, CENTCOM says

Yeghisabet Arthur

Read the article in: EspañolՀայերենRussian

The United States military has confirmed that a service member has died from injuries sustained in Iranian strikes, bringing the death toll in the U.S. military to 7.

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on U.S. troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1.

“This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. Major combat operations continue. The identity of the fallen warrior will be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.

CENTCOM said in a separate post that a U.S. National Guard soldier died in a health-related incident in Kuwait on March 6 during a medical emergency. “The exact cause of death is under review,” CENTCOM said.

The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East. 

Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths. More than 10 people have been killed in Israel.

Read the article in: EspañolՀայերենRussian

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Pashinyan calls Declaration of Independence a ‘conflict charter’

Yeghisabet Arthur
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 13 2026

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the country’s Declaration of Independence should be removed from a new constitution, describing it as a “declaration of conflict” rather than of statehood.

In a live broadcast on Friday, Pashinyan argued that the 1990 document was rooted in the Nagorno-Karabakh movement and territorial claims, rather than the security and welfare of Armenian citizens. “It’s not a declaration of independence, but of conflict,” he said.

The prime minister warned that continuing the Karabakh movement would inevitably lead to “new war”, while abandoning it would open the path to peace. He framed Armenia’s political debate as a choice between a “peace party” and a “war party,” urging voters to decide the country’s direction in upcoming elections.

“Peace will grow stronger every day, and Armenia’s independence and sovereignty will grow stronger every day,” Pashinyan declared, positioning his Civil Contract party as the only force advocating for a constitution without reference to the declaration.

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CC: Israel expands travel warnings to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan

Yeghisabet Arthur

· MARCH 9, 2026


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