The ongoing U.S,-Israeli attack on Iran has cost thousands of lives

The ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran have claimed their first Armenian fatality on Thursday, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia reported on Friday, citing sources at the Tehran Prelacy.

After heavy bombing in Isfahan, Hovhannes Simonian, a resident of the Armenian-populated New Djulfa neighborhood in that city was killed, the editor of the Tehran-based Alik Daily told Pastinfo.am in Armenia.

The US-Israeli airstrike on a residential neighborhood in the central Iranian city of Isfahan has claimed the lives of 26 people, Iranian officials confirmed Friday. According to the semi-official Fars News Agency, citing the Isfahan Governor’s Office, the victims of Thursday’s attack included seven women and seven children—more than half of the total fatalities.

“His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia continues to monitor the situation and, on a daily basis, is in contact with Prelacy leaders in the war-impacted countries,” a statement from the Catholicosate said on Friday.

Representatives of the prelacies of Tehran and Isfahan told the Catholicos that their cities were under heavy bombardment the past few days.

On a related matter, Catholicos Aram I invited the three national Armenian political parties—the Social Democratic Hunchagian Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Ramgavar Party—to a consultation on Monday to address the rapidly evolving situation in Lebanon, as Israeli forces continue their air and ground attack on the country.

The Catholicos convened the session with a comprehensive analysis of the origins, developments, and strategic objectives of the war in the Middle East, followed by a briefing on the conditions facing Armenian communities across the affected countries where there are prelacies. Participants engaged in substantive discussions on the military and political dynamics shaping the region, with particular focus on Lebanon.

The meeting highlighted the human and economic aspects of the regional conflict, as well as the profound humanitarian crisis it has triggered. Key concerns raised included the unprecedented surge in internal Lebanese displacement, the resulting demographic shifts, mounting domestic hardships, a deepening economic crisis, and the far-reaching consequences these developments pose for Lebanese society and its Armenian community.

Following thorough deliberations, Catholicos Aram I issued the following directives:

• The ongoing war in the Middle East — aimed at fundamentally redrawing the region’s political map — is generating widespread disruption that inevitably affects local Armenian communities.
• Spiritual and national leaders across each diocese are called to exercise heightened vigilance, avoid dangerous situations, and coordinate with their respective state authorities on emergency preparedness measures.
• The Armenian community in Lebanon reaffirms its steadfast commitment to the foundational principles of the Lebanese state, including sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internal security and peace.
• In light of the severe hardships Lebanon continues to endure, coordinated efforts to preserve peace in Armenian-populated neighborhoods and sustain charitable activities must be maintained and strengthened.
• The Lebanese-Armenian community must remain vigilant and resolute, refraining from involvement in internal Lebanese polarizations and tensions, and upholding its longstanding tradition of pursuing solutions through dialogue.
• Armenian charitable organizations are encouraged to coordinate their efforts in delivering humanitarian and social assistance to those in need.

“In closing, His Holiness Aram I commended the spirit of unity demonstrated through the joint session and emphasized that such consultative meetings — particularly in times of crisis — are not only valuable but essential to the cohesion and resilience of the Armenian community,” a statement from the Catholicosate said.

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Torchlight Procession from Republic Square to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex, commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place in Yerevan, Armenia

In another blow to the decades-long fight for rights and the pursuit of the Armenian Cause, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday lashed out by rejecting the notion of historical justice, saying the focus must remain the present.

“I believe we should pursue a just reality, not the restoration of historical justice,” Pashinian told a press briefing. “The more we pursue historical justice, the more we will face new historical injustices.”

“Enough of feeding the people with narratives of new genocides,” declared.

“When we use genocide rhetoric, we get genocide rhetoric in return; the same applies to the issue of return. I consider the rhetoric of ethnic cleansing harmful, as it can provoke a reciprocal response. This means entering a path of conflict,” Pashinyan added, advancing his notion that those who seek justice will take Armenia to war, if he and his party do not win the upcoming June 7 elections.

The prime minister said what he called “rhetoric” is aimed at preventing the people of Armenia, including the people of Karabakh, from living peacefully, and is keeping them in a ‘refugee status’ by giving hope that the international community will recognize the genocide or that the Treaty of Sèvres will somehow come into force”

He made the remarks on the eve of the 116th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide next month.

Pashinyan said that in Prague he resolved the issue of Armenia by deciding that Armenia must recognize its own territorial integrity.

“Do you understand the level of absurdity? This was the biggest conspiracy against Armenia, which I overcame with a strong-willed decision in October 2022 with the support of the government,” Pashinyan said.

Earlier in the day, Pashinyan told his government that he condemned efforts to advance the rights of Artsakh Armenians, among them their right to return to the homeland, saying that such “tendencies” are keeping the displaced Artsakh Armenians—and the Armenian people as whole—as “wanderers.”

“When we talk about return, we are essentially the first to prevent these people from settling down and coming to terms with their situation. This is very important, because peace is not just an agreement — peace is when a person calms down, understands, and does not keep a suitcase ready,” Pashinyan said at his cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“We, as a people, have been living with this expectation for 100 years, and this is an imperial policy, an anti-Armenian policy, according to which if you do not settle down, you will return or we will return — then there will be international recognition of the genocide, then you will return to Van, Mush, I don’t know, Cilicia, and so on,” said Pashinyan.

“This policy pursues two goals: first, to preserve a refugee mentality within the Armenian people, and second, to prevent the creation of the Republic of Armenia as a state, because in a country where the social psychology of refugees prevails, where we are supposed to go somewhere else, this is not a place where we should stay — such a state cannot be built,” Pashinyan said.

His comments come a day after he declared in parliament that those who want to keep the Karabakh Liberation Struggle alive are dooming Armenia into a protracted war.

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Artsakh leaders during their sham trial in a Baku court

Instead Defers to Armenian Government

The European Union’s Ambassador to Armenia Vassilis Maragos claimed Thursday that the cases of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan and other Armenian being held captive in Baku are being monitored closely by the EU.

“I would like to reassure you that the EU has been closely following Ruben Vardanyan’s and other Armenian prisoners’ cases held in Baku prison,” Margaros told the News.am agency.

The news agency sent inquiries Margaros after Vardanyan’s family warned last week that Azerbaijani authorities were depriving the former state minister and other Armenian prisoners of their right to appeal the verdicts handed down last month by two Azerbaijani military courts. According to the family in an audio message addressed to Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Defender Sabina Aliyeva, Vardanyan was clearly being interrupted, presumably by prison guards, when recording his message.

Vardanyan was sentenced to a 20 year prison term, while other former Artsakh leaders were given lengthy prison terms, including life sentences, when the sham trials in Baku concluded in late January.

A month after the so-called verdicts were announced, the Armenian prisoners being held in Baku have still not received the texts of these “verdicts” in any language. According to human rights advocates, this situation could deprive them of even the possibility to appeal.

News.am sent inquiries on this matter to various international organizations, embassies, and several Armenian state institutions, seeking clarification on what steps were being taken or can be taken in such a situation.

Maragos, the EU’s Ambassador to Armenia, responded to our inquiry, essentially saying that while the EU is following the cases of Vardanyan and other Armenian prisoners, it was deferring the matter to Armenian authorities, who thus far have made tacit comments about the verdicts.

“Regarding the specific case, I wish to underline that the EU has welcomed the various aspects of the historic positive progress between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the past few months in their bilateral peace process. We hope that all remaining issues, including sensitive humanitarian ones, could be addressed between the two sides,” Margaros told News.am.

“It is also our understanding that, as per public comments on the matter made by the Armenian authorities – the issue of Armenian detainees is being raised in the context of the bilateral peace process,” the EU ambassador added.

The question addressed to the Ambassador was as follows:

“You have welcomed the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, but such a crucial issue as the humanitarian one remains unresolved. Furthermore, Armenian prisoners are deprived of any effective protection mechanism. Do you, as the EU Ambassador to Armenia, follow this issue? And considering that Armenia has no diplomatic representation in Azerbaijan, what mechanisms can the EU utilize to help protect the rights of Armenian prisoners?”

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