Illegal actions against the Church continue as election promises

Kalashian Nyrie

The Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin strongly condemns the inclusion of objectionable provisions regarding the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the pre-election program of the “Civil Agreement” party.


In the pre-election program of the party, fixing the forced agenda of reforming the Church, revising the charter, removing the Catholicos of All Armenians and holding new Catholicos elections is a clear violation of the constitutional order, the right of self-government of the Church, as well as international fundamental principles of freedom of conscience and religion.


With pre-election promises to continue the obviously illegal actions against the Church, once again the entire anti-Church essence and purpose of the ideology of the ruling political power is demonstrated.


The adopted illegal way of working is harmful to the nation and absolutely unacceptable. It contradicts the interests of our people around the world, threatens the foundations of the national value system and undermines spiritual security.

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Verelq: Gagik Tsarukyan heads the electoral list of PAP

Frangulian Shushan

The regular congress of the “Prosperous Armenia” party ended a little while ago, during which Gagik Tsarukyan was unanimously re-elected as the party’s chairman.


As Iveta Tonoyan reports, the congress also approved the first three dozen candidates of the PAP election list for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
1. Tsarukyan Gagik
2. Tevanyan Andranik
3. Louisa Sargsyan
4. Ayvazyan Ara
5. Manukyan Armen
6. Babayan Metaksya
7. Grigoryan Martun
8. Suren from Suren
9. Elinar Vardanyan
10. Hovhannisyan Vahe
11. Stepanyan Gevorg
12. Iveta Tonoyan
13. Mikael Melkumyan
14. Arman Abovyan
15. Arustamyan Nora
16. Rostomyan Hrachya
17. Arman Piroyan
18. Lianna Manukyan
19. Armen Kosakyan
20. Grigoryan Karen
21. Davtyan Nune
22. Bozoyan Yervand
23. Kakoyan Kamo
24. Karapetyan Satenik
25. Shakaryan Roman
26. Danielyan Stepan
27. Manukyan Aregnaz
28. Harutyunyan Mkhitar
29. Sergoyan Karen
30. Grigoryan Gayane

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Asbarez: ‘Armenia’ Alliance Presents Socio-Economic Platform Ahead of Electio

Yeghisabet Arthur
by Asbarez Staff

 

 April 9, 2026

 

in Armenia, Latest, News, Top Stories

Supporters gather at Congress Hotel in Yerevan to hear the Armenia Alliance’s socio-economic plan on Apr. 8


The Armenia Alliance presented its socio-economic platform during an event held on Wednesday at the Congress Hotel in Yerevan.

The alliance, headed by former president Robert Kocharian and including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, is running as an opposition bloc in the upcoming June 7 elections.

The two lawmakers, Arthur Khachatryan and Artsvik Minasyan, who made presentations said that if elected, the Armenia Alliance will reduce taxes, create a more beneficial environment for the growth of the agriculture sector and will increase pensions.

Arthur Khachatryan

Khachatryan warned that the rosy economic outlook depicted by the current regime has largely relied on debt, arguing that if these policies continue, future generations would have to bear the burden of the mounting debt.

“The economic growth they [the current regime] is showing is a result of debt. In eight years, Armenia’s debt has doubled, reaching $15 billion,” Khachatryan said, adding that this burden will fall on everyone, including newborns, with an average of $5,000 debt per citizen.

He noted that Armenia’s current economic growth is largely based on services and retail trade, while exports are mainly driven by gold, diamonds, mining, brandy, and tobacco.

“Where is our industrial potential? Where is the high-tech industry praised by this government?,” Khachatryan countered.

He said that beginning on June 8, the policies of the Armenia Alliance will focus on reviving industry, creating an economy by elevating the tech sector and building on competitive advantages.

Khachatryan then turned his attention to what he deemed by the deterioration of the agricultural sector under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s leadership, arguing that “Armenia needs a competitive and prosperous agricultural sector.”

“We have gone back 25 years. With a single stroke of a pen, the Ministry of Agriculture was dismantled. More than half of our arable land is not being cultivated. And yet they [the government] proudly say we imported sub-par wheat from Kazakhstan. This cannot continue,” he emphasized.

According to Khachatryan, the alliance’s policies will aim to increase agricultural profitability, ensure food security, and improve quality of life in rural areas. “You can’t walk in a village without boots. People must remain in villages and strengthen our borders,” he said.

He noted that land plots are currently too small, making cultivation expensive and inefficient.

“We will promote cooperation and land consolidation while preserving ownership rights,” Khachatryan explained, adding that the state will support farmers in acquiring high-quality seeds, saplings, and livestock. Since agriculture is knowledge-based, farmers will also receive support to expand their knowledge of the sector.

He explained that the Alliance’s program will include up to 15 million drams in preferential loans with zero interest, cheaper fuel and seeds, improved water resource management, and support for sales and exports. Strategic products will also be guaranteed favorable prices.

Minasyan, the other presenter and a current lawmaker, focused on social aspects that, he said, had hindered the economy.

Artsvik Minasyan

“The current difficult social situation is not only due to external factors or psychological conditions. It is also the result of deep social problems that this government has created and continues to reinforce. One of the causes is the clearly unequal distribution of income,” Minasyan explained.

He noted that incomes of vulnerable groups are clearly lagging behind rising costs of living.

“Not only are prices of essential food, medicine, and utilities rising sharply, but property taxes and public transport fares are also increasing. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are faced daily with difficult choices—whether to pay for heating or essential medication with their limited income,” Minasyan said.

He argued that these policies have created social polarization, and vowed to eliminate it under the Armenia Alliance programs.
“The minimum wage will be aligned with the minimum living basket and will be indexed—meaning it will automatically increase each year at least in line with inflation, by law, not political will. The basic pension will increase by at least 50 percent and will also be indexed to inflation. During winter months, gas and electricity costs will be fully subsidized for socially vulnerable single pensioners, extremely poor families, and families with children,” Minasyan said.

“We will reduce property tax. The excessively high increase planned for 2026 will be canceled, and a luxury tax will be introduced—meaning the wealthy will pay more to ease the burden on low- and middle-income citizens. Social solidarity will be restored through fair income redistribution,” he said, adding that universal income declaration will also be abolished.

He noted that Armenian capital worldwide is estimated at around $400 billion, and through a proposed “Multi-purpose Fund,” attracting just five percent of it could significantly contribute to national development.

Addressing healthcare, Minasyan said that while the current insurance system has created issues for both doctors and patients, the alliance plans to improve it without dismantling it.

“We are here to further strengthen family protection. Under the ‘Family Growth Model,’ income tax will decrease by an additional two percent for each child after the second,” he said.

—

Calls Grow for Release of Teenager Arrested on Palm Sunday for ‘Confronting’ P

Karakhanian Suren
by Contributor

 

 April 9, 2026

 

in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Armenia’s human rights defender appeared to add her voice on Thursday to growing calls for the release of a high school student who was arrested on March 29 after confronting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a church in Yerevan.

The 18-year-old man, Davit Minasyan, remained, meanwhile, in hospital in what his lawyers described as serious condition.

Minasyan was arrested and charged with hooliganism and obstruction of Pashinyan’s “political activities” after an incident that marred a Plam Sunday Mass in St. Anne’s Church. The church was packed with worshippers when Pashinyan unexpectedly arrived there with his bodyguards who cleared the way for his passage. A visibly annoyed Minasyan told them not to push him and said he wants to keep “standing in the middle” of the church.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he then told Pashinyan before stretching a hand toward his shoulder.

Minasyan was punched and knocked down by one of the bodyguards as Pashinyan left the church amid angry cries from other believers. His twin brother Mikael and another man were also detained and indicted afterwards. But they both were freed pending investigation.

Davit Minasyan was rushed to Yerevan’s Nairi Medical Center on April 3 hospital after reportedly passing out at a juvenile institution just north of the Armenian capital. Only his lawyers have been allowed to visit him there. According to them, he was injured in the head and suffered concussion in the church.

“I visited him this morning,” one of the lawyers, Lusine Martirosyan, told reporters. “He complained of headaches. I tried my best not to disturb him. He said he wants to sleep all the time.”

Martirosyan spoke as a group of Minasyan’s sympathizers gathered outside the Office of the Prosecutor-General to demand an urgent meeting with Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan and hand her a letter signed by 150 people demanding the student’s release. Vardapetyan refused to receive them.

A similar petition circulated online earlier has been signed by thousands of other Armenians. Anahit Manasyan, the human rights ombudsman installed by the country’s current leadership, insisted as recently as on Wednesday that she has no legal authority to also call for the student’s release from custody.

In an apparent change of heart, Manasyan said on Thursday: “Taking into account the documents available regarding the suspect’s health condition, issues related to his right to education etc., I myself have also suggested that an alternative measure of deterrence [for the student] be considered.”

Pashinyan and his political allies have defended Minasyan’s arrest, saying that the student assaulted the prime minister. Armenian opposition figures counter, however, that the church incident was the result of what they see as Pashinyan’s provocative behavior. They claim that Pashinyan ordered the arrest in a bid to intimidate disgruntled Armenians ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan has spent the past several weekends touring various parts of the country and talking to people on what looked like election campaign trips. Some of those citizens caused him to lose his temper by openly denouncing his policies or complaining about his government’s track record.

—

Asbarez: Electoral Code Amendments Ahead of June Elections Disadvantage Countr

Emil Lazarian
by Contributor

 

 April 9, 2026

 

in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Successive Amendments to Electoral Code Appear Politicized and Undermine Public Trust in Democratic Process

YEREVAN — Recent amendments to Armenia’s Electoral Code adopted ahead of the June 2026 parliamentary elections that prohibit the use of personal names appear designed to disadvantage the “Strong Armenia” political opposition party and further undermine a fair and competitive electoral process, said the International Observatory for Democracy in Armenia. IODA urged the government to cancel or delay any apparently politicized amendments at least until after the election of a new government.

“These hasty electoral amendments smack of a naked ploy to disadvantage Armenia’s leading opposition political party, ‘Strong Armenia,’ by effectively requiring them to change the party’s well-known name just months before the elections,” said Sarah Leah Whitson. “The government and the ruling party have once again reached into their bag of tricks to tilt the election in its favor.”

On 7 April, the National Assembly adopted the amendments proposed by three members of the Civil Contract faction: Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Ghazaryan, and Artur Hovhannisyan, restricting the naming of electoral blocs. The passed changes prohibit the use of personal names, as well as names or formulations resembling state and local self-government bodies, in bloc titles. The bill was adopted with 66 votes in favor, 16 against, and no abstentions, with support coming exclusively from members of the ruling Civil Contract faction. While authors presented the amendment as a technical adjustment, the timing and context of the amendment will affect specific political parties, including the “Strong Armenia with Samvel Karapetyan” bloc. In the pre-electoral period, any changes that may be seen as altering the conditions of political competition warrant particular scrutiny.

The government passed other problematic amendments to the Electoral Code on 24 January 2026 authorizing the Central Electoral Commission sole discretion to deny or revoke accreditation for an election observation mission based on a determination that the mission is not “politically neutral.” Although ensuring impartiality in election observation is a legitimate objective, the absence of clearly defined criteria for assessing such neutrality introduces a degree of discretion that may give rise to inconsistent application.

It is also notable that the Assembly adopted these legislative changes through expedited procedures, without broad-based consultation with opposition parties, civil society organizations, or international partners. “The cumulative effect of the government’s changes to the Electoral Code is to undermine public trust in the fairness of the political process, particularly in the context of other controversial measures, including arrests of political actors and clergy, ahead of the elections,” said Kenneth Roth. “The most important thing the ruling party can and should do right now is take its fist off the political scales and ensure the public that Armenia’s democracy is safe from manipulation.”

The amendments to the Electoral Code also contravene the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, which underscores the importance of maintaining the stability of electoral legislation, and avoiding amendments for at least a year preceding elections. Changes to key aspects of the electoral framework at a late stage may affect both the perception and the reality of electoral integrity. IODA urged the government to suspend enforcement of any amendments to the Electoral Code until after the election and to ensure adequate time for review, discussion and consultation with civil society.

The IODA previously issued its concerns about the government’s conduct ahead of the elections, highlighting politicized arrests and prosecutions of political opponents and clergy members; unfounded allegations of foreign interference; and reliance on vague and overbroad provisions of the penal code, in a press conference in Yerevan on March 12. The organization plans to carry out a second on-the-ground investigation in Armenia in May and will issue its final conclusions and recommendations ahead of the elections.

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168: Real Armenian man against “Real Armenia”

Kanayan Tamar

April 9, 2026


There is still no opposition to the idea of ​​”Real Armenia” of the government, which would be able not only to crush that fiction that reduced the measure of existence to the level of gastric juice production, but to make its discussion shameful. Even for CPs. At least those who ever had a brain, nevertheless agreed to the Pashinyan degradation of replacing it with organs in the middle parts of the body.

And meaning is not contradicted, because unlike the government, the oppositions do not create new meanings, but are busy countering the ones invented by the government, that is, they create not meanings, but anti-meanings. The power’s ability to create meanings should not be confused with meaning-making in the substantive sense of the concept. Satanic curses can also, especially with today’s technology, be imposed as meanings, which is what the government does. Or all those who, through the government, are engaged in the new engineering of Armenianness, putting natural the antithesis.

And the oppositions, either due to the inability to create more meanings, or guided by the primitive principle “everything new is the old that is well forgotten”, contrast “Real Armenia” with the stories of the past, both real and pathos-filled texts quoted from legends and toasts, which are exciting only in ethnographic songs, but as a political text, they are roughly similar to the curse addressed to a child in response to the curser’s great-grandfathers. to be late.

The story of “Real Armenia”, with all its cheapness and simplicity, is about today’s Armenia, not the new Armenia, as a country risen from the ashes, as the government represents, but about the former Armenia, the broken country left from the Armenian world, which has a different citizenry, people living in different dimensions, for three years now, also lost from Artsakh.

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Here, the opposition’s semantic response to “Real Armenia” should be not only and not so much (and maybe it should not be) a mechanical reminder of the previous victory, which hurts in the conditions of today’s humiliation, but a message that unites people, of a new person living in a depressed country, who did not become new by his own will, which will be opposed to the march of “Real Armenia”. But it will be opposed not just as a simple reflection, as a reaction, but as a new content, a new meaning, on which a new social and state structure with a chance to return the previous victory can ever touch.

The antidote to “real Armenia” is a real Armenian person, without quotation marks. But the Armenianness of that person, not even a hair’s breadth denying the codes of the past, should still be anchored on new realities, today’s reality. In this battle of ideas and meanings, the time factor is key. The government is selling the dream of “Real Armenia” as today’s project, but more so as tomorrow’s project. Oppositions are contrasted with archetypes from the past. And in the competition between the time dimensions of the past and the future, the past will always lose due to the nature of human beings. He will lose, with all his heroism.

Will the oppositions, individually and collectively, find the algorithm to contrast “Real Armenia” with a real Armenian person in the next two months? This is the most important question of this election cycle, but also of the times to come. Many times more important than the measurements of sociological polls and the decibels of inopportune voices that are presented as political speech, emitted by the self-satisfaction of those being measured.

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You, who have never created anything in your life, how could you afford to destroy it?

Adrine Hakobian

April 9, 2026

“What did you guys do, what did you do?

You didn’t become human, guys, you didn’t become human.

People from Gyumri in Tasib have a very nice word, they say: “Erik is a man-a-woman man”. You didn’t even become a woman, let alone become a man. In your case, Darwin was wrong, you remained a primate (примат). You did not experience evolution. The great Persian poet Saadi said about you seven hundred years ago:

“You know nothing about being a stupid person.”

You, who have never done anything in life, how could you afford to destroy what those who did did? Like incorrigible gamblers, you squandered the years, sweat and blood of your elders.

How could you deny the existence of Artsakh?

make 120,000 people homeless,

Sterilize 12,000 boys.

kill 5,000 boys

12,000 square kilometers to be given to the enemy.

The entire political and military leadership of Artsakh is in the Azeri prison.

Here in Armenia, you judge the political, military and spiritual leadership.

I am not surprised that your teachers strangled Khoren Vehaphar in the Mother See, imprisoned Nzhdeh, Bakunts and Charents. You will not lag behind them, will you? Who am I to be angry or surprised? I just want to ask a simple question: who gave you the right to turn off our light? Why did you make our sunny country Armenia so dark? I know the answer to my question, I just want to hear your confession.

“Among the vices of the human soul, envy is the unique scourge that remains unconfessed.

Plutarch

What did you guys do? What did you do?

Chairman of Syunyats Spiritual Diocese

Commander of the Sisak detachment

Colonel of the reserve army

Prisoner of “Vardashen” Penitentiary

Ashot Minasyan “Iron”




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The list of the first 36 candidates of the electoral list of “Strong Armenia” is known

Jirair Kafian

April 9, 2026

On April 8, the congress of the “Strong Armenia” party was held, the agenda of which included 2026. Questions about participating in the National Assembly elections and approving the list of the first 36 candidates of the electoral list for the upcoming elections.

The party congress made a unanimous decision to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in the format of an alliance.

The congress of the party approved the names of the first 36 candidates of the electoral list of the bloc by another decision.

To remind, on February 12, during the official presentation of the “Strong Armenia” party held at the sports concert complex named after Karen Demirchyan, the party announced that the candidate for the prime minister of “Strong Armenia” is the chairman of the party, Samvel Karapetyan.

The entire electoral list of the alliance will be presented on April 11, at 17.00, at the unity rally called by the alliance in Freedom Square.

We present the names of the first 36 candidates of the pre-election list of the alliance below.

1. Narek Karapetyan

2. Aram Vardevanyan

3. Gohar Meloyan

4. Davit Ghazinyan

5. Ruben Mkhitaryan

6. Arega Hovsepyan

7. Mamikon Aslanyan

8. Hayk Farmanyan

9. Marianna Ghahramanyan

10. Hayk Sukiasyan

11. Ashot Farsyan

12. Irina Yolyan

13. Edgar Ghazaryan

14. Tigran Abrahamyan

15. Lena Matevosyan

16. Robert Kadaryan

17. Grisha Tamrazyan

18. Lilia Shushanyan

19. Andranik Gevorgyan

20. Garnik Davtyan

21. Liana Gasparyan

22. Artur Danielyan

23. Vaghinak Vardanov

24. Liana Manukyan

25. Avetis Arakelyan

26. Harutyun Mnatsakanyan

27. Lilit Gharajyan

28. Vruyr Ayvazyan

29. Shiraz Manukyan

30. Anush Mirzoyan

31. Levon Nalbandian

32. Arkady Tamazyan

33. Hasmik Yengoyan

34. Alexander Sargsyan

35. Mher Aghamyan

36. Gohar Osipyan




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The first 30 names of the pre-election list of “Hayastan” bloc are known

Emil Lazarian

April 9, 2026

At the final session of the 29th extraordinary Supreme Assembly of the ARF and at the congress of the “Forward” party, the first three dozen of the pre-election list of the alliance of “Armenia” parties were approved. The order of names of the MP candidates is as follows:

1. Robert Kocharyan

2. Prince Saghatelyan

3. Anna Grigoryan

4. Sevak Khachatryan

5. Artur Khachatryan

6. Christine Vardanyan

7. Aghvan Vardanyan

8. Gegham Manukyan

9. Agnesa Khamoyan

10. Levon Kocharyan

11. Artur Sargsyan

12. Lilit Galstyan

13. Mesrop Manukyan

14. Garnik Danielyan

15. Christine Nazaryan

16. Boris Tamoyan

17. Narek Mantashyan

18. Lusine Karamyan

19. Gerasim Vardanyan

20. Karen Simonyan

21. Anush Arakelyan

22. Arman Ghazaryan

23. Artur Ohanyan

24. Armenuhi Kyureghyan

25. Mihrdat Madatyan

26. Igor Sargsyan

27. Rubina Petrosyan

28. Samvel Hakobyan

29. Artsvik Minasyan

30. Anush Brutyan




—

Iran will not tolerate an increased Israeli presence, nor American efforts

Mary Lazarian

April 9, 2026

168.amis the interlocutor of Iranian political analyst Ehsan Mohavedian.

– The last few hours were quite dramatic in international relations. Against the backdrop of Trump’s threats, Pakistan started mediation efforts between Iran and the US, as a result of which the parties declared a ceasefire for two weeks. Iran announced that it was opening the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States announced that it was considering the ten points offered by Iran as a basis for negotiations. Both sides present what happened as a victory. Such sharp turns in international relations are not a manifestation of good will, but the result of either the balance of power or mutual fear. In the end, which side fell: Washington, due to the economic consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a major regional war, or Tehran, due to the possible unpredictable and harsh blows of the Trump administration?

– Without a doubt, it is the United States that fears Iran. Trump has acknowledged the fact that Iran has emerged as the world’s fourth superpower. Trump proposed a 15-point program to Iran. Iran rejected it and instead presented its own 10-point plan, and he accepted it. Because he was afraid of the damage caused by the war in America, the increase in gasoline prices, the hundreds of American casualties, the failure of the plot to invade Iran and the inability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He’s a professional idiot because he’s now trying to solve a crisis that didn’t even exist before the war: the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, rising oil prices, and global shortages of helium, fertilizers, petrochemicals, and steel.

All the experts and analysts in the American and Israeli media admit the victory of Iran and the defeat of Israel and the United States. The list of these wins and losses is as follows.

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America’s defeats in the war against Iran.

  • A waste of more than $40 billion of American taxpayer dollars.
  • Hundreds of Americans killed and wounded,
  • Doubling of oil prices,
  • Destruction of American bases in the region,
  • The petrodollar is dead.
  • Europe has fallen out of line with global trends and has become hostile to America.
  • NATO has weakened
  • Israel and the US are at loggerheads and mistrust, and Zionists feel humiliated and isolated.

Iran’s victories.

  • Iran’s 400 kg of uranium has been preserved.
  • Sanctions will be lifted.
  • Iran will collect tribute from the Strait of Hormuz and has new financing for reconstruction.
  • Iran’s allies have been preserved and strengthened.
  • The Islamic Republic has been strengthened by new, resilient and rational leaders.
  • The Arab allies of the US and Israel have suffered serious losses.
  • Iran’s missile program will be maintained and strengthened.
  • Trump, who talked about the destruction of Iranian civilization, has been humiliated, discredited and broken, repeatedly changing his positions and accepting the 10-point demands.

In short, Iran has become the world’s fourth rising power. This is the “Art of the Deal” of the incompetent and ignorant Trump.

– What actually happened, what did Washington and Tehran agree on, and to what extent will this ceasefire turn into lasting stability?

– The 10 demands accepted by Iran are:

  • A complete cessation of all aggression against Iran and allied resistance groups, especially Hezbollah in Lebanon.
  • Withdrawal of US combat forces from the region, prohibition of any attack against Iran from military bases.
  • For a period of two weeks, a limited daily passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz is established, according to the protocol of safe movement, which is subject to special monitoring and regulation carried out by Iran.
  • The lifting of all primary, secondary and UN sanctions, as well as the release of Iranian assets and property.
  • Compensation for the damages suffered by Iran through the creation of an investment and financial fund.
  • Iran’s commitment not to build nuclear weapons.
  • Acceptance of Iran’s right to enrichment by the US and negotiations on the level of enrichment.
  • Iran’s agreement to negotiate bilateral and multilateral peace agreements with regional countries in accordance with its own interests.
  • Extending the principle of non-aggression to all aggressors against all resistance groups.
  • Termination of all resolutions of the Council of Governors and Security Council, and confirmation of all commitments by an official UN resolution.

Considering the advantage it has in the region, Iran will not back down from its terms. It is the United States that is facing problems and constraints with the World Cup, congressional elections, rising gasoline prices, the threat of impeachment against Trump, and the failure to achieve all of his goals against Iran. In this war, Iran used only 30% of the power of its “missile cities”, and the Iranian people supported the Islamic Republic throughout the war, with millions of street demonstrations. The United States and Israel will pay a high price if they violate the ceasefire. But if they respect it, Iran will also respect it. The choice is theirs.

– As you mentioned, the United States accepted the 10 points presented by Iran. In recent weeks, the media have been constantly reporting on Iranian preconditions and proposals. Do you think these last 10 points are revised versions of previous proposals and what are the “red lines” of Iran that are included in these proposals?

– In the presented 10-point program, all “red lines” of Iran were respected. The United States and Israel wanted to destroy Iran or at least change the regime so that Iran’s behavior would change. However, not only those goals did not come true, but Iran stands firm and strong today. A significant part of Iran’s missile and drone potential remains unused. The Iranian people, unlike the depressed and defeated peoples of the USA and Israel, are ready to continue the struggle.

Iran’s enriched uranium is still inside the country. Arab countries and Israel were hit hard and weakened. The forces of resistance have strengthened. The petrodollar has weakened and the United States has no choice but to withdraw from the Middle East and accept Iranian hegemony.

– According to you, there is no concession on the part of Tehran in this process?

– Iran has not made any concessions to the United States. On the contrary, the United States accepted everything that Iran demanded. The United States sought to destroy Iran’s nuclear, missile, and drone capabilities, force Iran into complete capitulation, annihilate Iranian civilization, destroy Iran’s entire infrastructure, and bring about regime change in Iran and its allies. However, none of them happened, and Trump was embarrassed and humiliated. China and Russia will undoubtedly take advantage of this situation in the future. Iran has dealt a heavy blow to the United States and Israel, and America’s decline has accelerated.

– How was the position of the South Caucasus considered in Iran during this war, is it about Azerbaijan or, in particular, Armenia? In your opinion, will the war, the policy of the RA authorities during the war affect the Armenian-Iranian agenda in any way?

– During this war, Baku supported Israel, and many Israeli and American drones entered Iran from the territory of Azerbaijan. Of course, Aliyev expressed sympathy for Iran on the surface, but in practice he hoped for Israel’s success. After Iran’s power and resilience became apparent, Aliyev and the pro-government media changed their hostile tone toward Iran, and Azerbaijani public opinion also began to support Iran. This made it very difficult for Aliyev to carry out malicious actions against Iran. At the same time, everyone in Iran is aware of Aliyev’s true intentions and the Azeri population of Iran about his interest in splitting the regions. The attack on Iran’s military facilities in Bandar Anzali and the attack on Parsabad on the Iran-Azerbaijani border are other questionable incidents that Baku needs to explain.

The good and dear people of Armenia, as well as some political parties of that country, showed great and strong support to Iran, and we in Iran will never forget that support. Although the Armenian government did not condemn the American crimes and only expressed regret, it did provide some assistance to Iran and, fortunately, bilateral trade was not seriously damaged.

However, there was an expectation in Iran that the Armenian government would come out with a clearer position and condemn the brutal aggression of the United States and Israel. If Armenia seeks stable relations with Iran, it must understand that after the last war, Iran will not tolerate the increase of Israeli presence in neighboring countries, nor the American efforts to create the “Trump Route” and the fake “Zangezur Corridor”. “Trump’s route” does not bring any economic benefit to Armenia. it will only surround the country with enemy states and endanger the Iran-Armenia border. Iran is committed to maintaining these borders and countering any attempts to weaken its geopolitical and corridor position, and expects the Armenian government to understand this important issue and strengthen bilateral relations, as in the past, by investing in joint corridor and economic projects.

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