March: 12, 2026
Nikol Pashinyan, in a briefing with journalists after today’s Cabinet meeting, again referred to the Apostolic Church, the clergy led by His Holiness the Patriarch, accusing them of “inciting war” with Azerbaijan, because they use the expression “Republic of Artsakh” during liturgies.
“I say that Kutrich Nersisyan took over the leadership of the war party in RA. During church liturgies, the word “peace” is used more than 40 times, and 4-5 times it is emphasized: Lord God, give peace to the world. Here we are also talking about service of a spiritual nature. This is another example that these people have nothing to do with spiritual service at all.” mentioned Nikol Pashinyan.
Clergyman of Aragatsotni Diocese Reverend Sargis Sargsyan went through the 90s war in Artsakh, saw how the Republic of Armenia encouraged Artsakh and Artsakh Armenians.
“For the sake of that Artsakh, we sacrificed more than 6,000 people. At that time, Artsakh was ours? Now they say: Artsakh is not ours? How can we understand this? How will that person explain this to us?”
How can this explain to me, my parents, his contemporaries who participated in that war, that Artsakh is no longer ours?” 168.amFather Sargis Sargsyan said in a conversation with
According to the cleric, if they should not remember Artsakh, then they should also not remember who their parents were, where their roots are from, just let them say that they are citizens of the Republic of Armenia, and that’s it. But it cannot be like that, a person must say who he is, what family and parents he is a child of, where his roots are from, etc.
“Why did we sacrifice so much for Artsakh in the 90s, for nothing? They cannot explain this to us.
In 2019, he was shouting, “Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it”, why, if he can, let him give us the answers to all these “whys”, and we will give our answers in our turn”, added priest Sargis Sargsyan.
Our interlocutor does not rule out that one day the government will ban the use of the word “Artsakh”, including in the church.
“They declare who are not with the authorities and who are on the side of the Catholicos, so they are “agents”. With this same logic, they will say whatever they want tomorrow,” emphasized Father Sargis Sargsyan.
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What do Yerevan, Tbilisi and Baku warn about in the war against Iran?
March: 12, 2026
Yesterday, from the podium of the European Parliament, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the ongoing war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He mentioned that the positive image he presented regarding the relations with the USA, the TRIPP project, is overshadowed by the events that are taking place in the neighborhood of Armenia, in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in a number of Middle Eastern countries. He specifically said:
“Iran is our good friend, our thousand-year-old neighbor. You have already seen the extent of our relations with the United States. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Syria are our good partners. We have recently taken a historic step with Saudi Arabia and established diplomatic relations. We are pained to see what is happening in the Middle East. In the background of such an international crisis, moreover, we are a small, modest country, and we can only pray for the peace of the souls of all the victims and the wisdom of our fellow leaders to find diplomatic solutions before the minute.”
Earlier, we also touched on the issue that the Armenian side has taken a distant position regarding the Iran-US-Israel military confrontation, especially in the Iranian direction, which was confirmed by Nikol Pashinyan’s statement. Since the unleashed war against Iran, the Armenian side has not distinguished itself by initiating close contacts with high-ranking officials of Iran, etc.
RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, and according to the message spread by the Iranian side, he expressed his willingness to provide humanitarian support. And the fact that no humanitarian aid was sent from Armenia to Iran is noteworthy here.
This is especially interesting, remembering the fact that in the case of the earthquake in Turkey, the Armenian side did not waste time and sent aid to Turkey. However, against the background of this caution of the RA authorities, it recently became known that Armenia will most likely sign the comprehensive strategic document with Iran during Pashinyan’s visit to Iran.
Unlike the official Yerevan, Baku, despite having serious differences with Iran, tried to make gestures towards Iran. Ilham Aliyev visited the Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan and expressed his condolences to the ambassador on the occasion of the death of Ali Khamenei, the supreme spiritual leader of Iran.
The Nakhichevan incident slightly changed Azerbaijan’s position, the leadership of Azerbaijan made several sharp statements, but these days it continues to maintain neutrality and caution, while maintaining close relations with Israel. Azerbaijan also sent humanitarian aid to Iran, by the way, after the Nakhijevan incident.
The authorities of Georgia are also showing noticeable caution, although a number of non-governmental figures note the growth of Iranian influence in Georgia, once a close partner of the United States.
Russian analyst, orientalist Victor Nadein-Raevsky 168.amtold that in the conditions of the Iran-US-Israel conflict, the positioning of the three countries of the South Caucasus is actually cautious, which is due not only to geopolitical calculations, but also to the vulnerability of the region.
He noted that the South Caucasus is in the immediate vicinity of the conflict, and any drastic statement or position can quickly turn into a political or security risk. For this reason, according to the analyst, all three countries are trying to avoid an open orientation and preserve the possibility of diplomatic maneuvering.
“Iran is an extremely important country for Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan and Georgia. This is especially due to the important strategic relations with Iran, Iran is not only an economic and energy partner for Armenia, but also a regional exit, especially in the conditions when Armenia has closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan. At the same time, Armenia has greatly deepened its relations with the West, so it cannot ignore the West’s position towards Iran, which is why the rhetoric and steps are extremely neutral, although the importance and role of Iran for Armenia cannot be overestimated,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.
He believes that Azerbaijan’s position in terms of Iran is more complicated.
“On the one hand, Baku has close strategic and military cooperation with Israel, which is an important technological and defense partner for it. On the other hand, Iran is Azerbaijan’s immediate neighbor, and any drastic stance can aggravate the already tense relations with Tehran. For this reason, Baku is trying to maintain caution, not endangering either the partnership with Israel or the stability of relations with Iran.
In addition, Azerbaijan is trying to take steps in the Iranian direction to prove that it is neutral or supports Iran. In the case of Azerbaijan, the Western factor is not so significant, although at this stage, Azerbaijan also has a closer partnership with both the USA and the EU than before,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.
Speaking about Georgia, he said that Georgia’s caution is mainly due to its foreign political balance.
“Tbilisi tries not to deepen the problems with the West, but at the same time avoids getting involved in regional military confrontations. The priority for Georgia is regional stability and the security of economic communications, as any escalation can endanger the energy and transport corridors that pass through the country. From this point of view, Georgia has concrete concerns,” the analyst noted, continuing that caution is important in a broader sense as well.
In his opinion, the South Caucasus is a region where the interests of big states intersect, and any miscalculation can quickly change the balance of security.
“The cautious policy of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan shows the fear that the tension in the Middle East can easily be transferred to the South Caucasus, as it was transferred to neighboring countries of Iran, where there are American bases,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.
It should also be reminded that recently the President of the Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian announced that a decision was made in Iran not to target the neighboring countries, if there is no threat from those countries.
“Those bases that are used to attack our country will remain our target within the scope of our legal right,” Pezeshkian said in a telephone conversation with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
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Is the non-reserve role of the army a message of war? Aliyev, Erdogan
March: 12, 2026
During the briefing after the government session, Nikol Pashinyan answered a journalist’s question: said:
“There is such an emphasis in your question, you say there is peace, maybe there is a war, I don’t know. Or, there is a conflict somewhere, there is an escalation, there are victims and wounded, you don’t tell me, you spare me.
Where is there a war, where is there a wounded person, where is there a shooting, where is there a victim, where is there an attack, explosion, bombardment, rocket fire, etc.?
In other words, in the context of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran these days, expert, political science concerns are being manipulated again, as well as the desire or not for peace of the opposition political forces, clerics and ordinary citizens, and what drives war and what does not. But we’ll get to that a little later.
Now, let’s see what statements the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey made in the last few days against the background of the operation against Iran. By the way, there is no war in these countries either.
In particular, in one of his latest statements, Turkish President Erdogan emphasized the following:
■ This war must be stopped, it can spread and the whole region will be in flames. If possible, diplomacy can certainly achieve this.
■ Despite the possibility of solving the problems at the negotiation table, due to calculations, miscalculations and, of course, the provocations of the bloodthirsty network, our region is once again covered with the smell of blood and gunpowder.
■ account taking created of the situation sensitivity, we extreme careful we are expressed. We in action we are restrained` Turkey to protect his around flaming from the fire.
We undertaking we are necessary միջոցներ՝ to prevent our in the region bloody the scenarios, which ones experience is being done implement, and: first հերթին՝ interdenominational conflicts.
■ We we don’t have Sunnism or Shiism, we we have only one կրոն՝ Islam.
By the way, before this, the Turkish Foreign Minister spoke about another danger, that the scenarios inciting a civil war in Iran will lead to a large flow of refugees to neighboring countries and beyond.
In other words, there is a clear awareness of security risks and, above all, for Turkey itself. And in this logic, on the one hand, Erdoğan shows caution, on the other hand, he does not forget to issue warnings in his own security interests, including to Iran, with whom, as we mentioned, he is also cautious. In other words, when it is necessary, it reminds about the military potential, outside of that, it shows subtle diplomacy.
By the way, today the Ministry of National Defense of Turkey, in response to statements from Iran, that they are not targeting neighboring countries, but US bases in those territories, known and unknown Israeli military facilities, issued a message in which it is said:
“The presence of American soldiers does not mean that it is a US base. The 10th Air Force Command is located in Incirlik (Adana). But here are our F-16 fighters, refueling planes, drones. All those facilities and equipment belong to Turkey. The commander of the base is also our brigadier general. By the way, there are also military personnel from Spain, Poland, and Qatar.”
At the same time, the Turkish Ministry of Defense emphasized that they continue to take appropriate measures against security threats, including against the backdrop of the Iran-US-Israel conflict, and that the country’s air and missile defense is implemented within the framework of a multi-layered structure based on threat assessment and operational necessity. In this context, Ankara also reminded that it is part of NATO’s anti-aircraft and anti-missile system, which implies the presence of early warning, command and control systems and interceptor missiles.
168.amthe had written, that the Turkish military system was linked to the NATO command and control system for 44 days.
By the way, against the backdrop of Turkish-Azerbaijani accusations against Iran, on March 11, the delegation led by the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Turkish Army, Army General Metin Tokel, visited Nakhichevan, was in the separate joint forces of Nakhichevan, and met with the commander, Lieutenant General Kyan Seidov.
Metin Tokel noted that Turkey always stands by Azerbaijan in order to strengthen stability in the region and fully ensure security, and that Shushi declaration logically, they are ready to provide any military assistance.
At the end of the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to the planning of joint military exercises.
The Turkish general also met with Jeyhun Jailiov, the plenipotentiary representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. First to the meeting has been remembered Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan during the 44-day war, then the drone attacks in the direction of Nakhijevan were mentioned, but Iran was not mentioned, which has launched an investigation into the incident.
And what did the President of Azerbaijan Aliyev say in his last speech? in speech regarding security situation and peace establishment in and around the region.
«2020 in the year, 44-daily of war time witness we were by force «our areas to liberation»։ do you think i am, that this important indicator is. if peaceful solution hope there is none, and the truth, justice and: international the right your the side are, of peace to reach for sometimes need is power apply. And exactly that email place had. We of Armenia with of peace we arrived նախ՝ by force, ապա՝ political means. I would say that this is a rare case in the history of recent decades, when the country restores its sovereignty and territorial integrity by force and thus achieves peace,” Aliyev said, adding that today they have achieved peace with Armenia.
On the other hand, the leader of Azerbaijan continues that “achieving peace is not easy”.
“Today we see we are, that protracted conflicts continues are, and: of the world of the map on in: application are coming tension new hearths. …today, more than ever safety and: stability the questions need is stay any of the state of the agenda priority, because without դրանց՝ the rest becomes is pointless” he emphasized.
And Aliyev has said more than once that the army remains the primary factor in ensuring security, despite strong diplomacy.
And what is Nikol Pashinyan trying to instill in the society, particularly through his speech in the European Parliament or during the joint statement with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola?
Moreover, Nikol Pashinyan understands very well that peace cannot be strong in today’s world, that issues cannot be solved by international law, but still he does not give the same importance to the armed forces as Erdogan and Aliyev. Now, more substantive.
For example, Pashinyan in the European Parliament declared.
“We are often criticized that the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not perfect, but please tell me, where is the peace perfect, where is there perfect peace and where was it and when?
And on the contrary, it is the will to take care of peace that creates options to make it as close as possible to the perfect one, and this is how we approach all issues, including the issue of our compatriots held in prison in Azerbaijan.”
In other words, does Pashinyan also accept that there can be no talk of peace as long as Aliyev keeps the former military-political leadership of Artsakh in Baku, and is not going to pardon him yet? In other words, their return will be a political decision, in that case, why is their return not considered as a precondition for concluding a peace treaty, as Azerbaijan considers the exclusion of the Declaration of Independence from the RA constitution, to which Pashinyan has already agreed: “There should be no reference to the Declaration of Independence in the new Constitution, because the Declaration of Independence is built on the logic of conflict.”
And the fact that Azerbaijan is not going to get rid of the demands contained in its constitution and based on the logic of the conflict against the Republic of Armenia, this does not concern the current authorities, and the fact that “Zangezur region” considers the state propaganda of Baku as Azerbaijani and threatens to return there physically. Moreover, Aliyev does not connect this with whether or not to mention the Republic of Artsakh in RA (as Pashinyan is trying to present), but that issue is observing in the context of the international law of those representing the “Western Azerbaijan” community.
Let’s continue the series of Pashinyan’s manipulations. In a joint statement with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mezzola, he, in particular, announced.
“For us, the army is not a tool of security, but a security reserve, when suddenly under any circumstances the primary tools of peace that I mentioned suddenly do not work: peace, cooperation, interaction and so on.”
In other words, the person who considers himself the supreme commander considers the army not as an important security institution, but only as a reserve, a security “reserve”, a “reserve player”, a reserve force. And nothing that they constantly talk about a professional army.
Naturally, the country must have strong diplomacy so that the matter does not escalate to war.
And why did Nikol Pashinyan not move in this logic in 2019, in 2020, so that there would not be a 44-day war?
And in today’s world, does the settlement of issues through negotiations depend on one side? A war occurs when one of the parties at some point refuses to fulfill the unilateral demands of the other party and agrees to fulfill them tirelessly, for example, questioning the Armenian citizenship of the occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia in order to avoid war, not to demand a change in the constitution of Azerbaijan so that there is no war, at some point agreeing to the return of Azerbaijani refugees so that there is no war, and so on.
We repeat: no one in RA wants a war, including non-military ones, which is what Pashinyan is leading to.
By the way, when we say that the army should remain an important and primary security factor, it does not mean a call for war, after all, the armed forces have various units that also have important functions in peacetime, from intelligence to the protection and inviolability of air borders and land areas, positions. The truth that Erdogan and Aliyev understand very well, and to which Nikol Pashinyan and his team show “criminal” indifference.
For example, the other day it was reported that Azerbaijan has ordered 40 units of the latest ASELPOD electro-optical targeting system developed for combat aircraft from Turkey, the leading defense company ASELSAN, for the JF-17 fighter jets purchased from Pakistan.
The system allows you to detect and track long-range targets, determine their geographic location, and deliver accurate strikes. Moreover, ASELPOD can be integrated with F-16 and unmanned aerial vehicles.
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Small Reactor’s Big Problems
March: 12, 2026
The statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia made in Paris yesterday, according to which “Armenia has made a decision on the use of small modular reactor (SRM) technology”, is a significant political impulse. And the question is not only about the content.
Recently, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures noted that the final choice of the specific model of the nuclear power plant has not yet been made, and modular reactors have not yet gained wide popularity and require additional study. At the same time, in the public sphere, the American diplomat specializing in nuclear energy issues, Thomas Armbruster, urged the Armenian government to carry out public awareness, because the technology of PMRs remains poorly understood by the public and cannot have spontaneous public approval. Against this background, the government’s refusal to discuss the issue publicly is unacceptable.
The construction of a new nuclear power plant is not an “ordinary” infrastructure project. We are talking about a long-term model for ensuring the country’s energy security, large financial commitments, selection of international technology partners, new regulatory norms, waste management and, most importantly, public legitimacy of the country’s energy security roadmap.
Therefore, it is of fundamental importance not only what decision the government makes, but also how it is made. When the Prime Minister orders such a decision to the public with a statement made outside the country’s borders, this proves that the “proud” citizen of Armenia is not acting as a participant in the strategic choice, but merely as a subject to the decision.
Armenia’s interest in the development of nuclear energy is quite legitimate in itself: the operation period of the existing nuclear power plant expires in ten years. However, it does not follow from this that a small modular reactor is the most optimal solution. The international expert discussions about them show that the advantages of PMRs are still theoretical and unverified.
The peculiarity of the technical and economic assessment of small modular reactors is due to the fact that their competitiveness is based on a different economic logic than that of traditional large nuclear power units. The competitiveness of the latter is based on economies of scale. the increase in power unit capacity leads to a decrease in the unit cost of produced electricity.
And in the case of PMRs, the expected economic efficiency, on the contrary, is due to the effect of multiple reproduction of standardized modules (economies of multiples), that is, the serial production and operation of a significant number of similar plants. In other words, the supposed reduction of costs becomes possible only in conditions of mass production and operation.
Therefore, the arguments regarding the economic efficiency of PMR and the cost of electricity produced by them are quite controversial. In practice, the implementation of such projects shows not only their high cost, but also problems related to financial planning, as a result of which the transition from the design stage to implementation is associated with serious financial risks.
Thus, the unexpected significant increase in the project cost was the reason for the suspension of the construction of the PMR in the state of Utah, USA. Such risks are more dangerous for Armenia, because the mistake of choosing a costly technology will become a long-term heavy burden, both for public finances and for the national energy system.
The experts of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also emphasize the safety issues of PMRs. Proponents of nuclear reactors often attribute their supposed advantages to the use of passive safety systems, as well as the smaller size of the reactors and the flexibility of deployment.
However, according to experts, it does not follow that the level of safety of PMRs is high compared to powerful reactors. Therefore, in their opinion, at present it is more correct to speak not about the superiority of PMRs in terms of safety, but about certain design expectations that still need empirical confirmation.
The Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also highlights the issue of nuclear fuel. The operation of PMRs implies the use of nuclear fuel with a higher degree of enrichment. Meanwhile, the relevant production and logistics chains are still not sufficiently developed and, as a consequence, supply constraints are considered a factor that will hinder the proliferation of these reactors.
The issue of the future fate of used nuclear fuel is also worthy of attention. Contrary to the intuitive assumption that a smaller reactor size also implies less complexity of the post-operational fuel cycle, the studies do not rule out the possibility of a larger volume of waste per unit of energy produced and more difficult to manage.
The very fact of such discussions proves that there are still no definitive solutions in this regard.
For a country deciding on the future structure of nuclear energy, the issue of waste management is as important as the issues of cost, implementation dates and safety.
The mentioned circumstances, especially in the absence of public discussion, give grounds to question the validity of the criteria by which the Armenian government was guided when making a decision on the construction of a small modular reactor.
Until the issues touched on are properly developed and presented in the public sphere, the Prime Minister’s Paris statement is more reminiscent of a political commitment made on the eve of the upcoming elections than the result of a comprehensive technical and economic analysis.
ARMEN MARTIROSYAN
Deputy of the RA Supreme Council (1990-95)
Deputy of the RA National Assembly (1995-99)
RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
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Pashinyan’s government will receive Iran’s response. Iran will not forget it… Gagik Min
March: 12, 2026
The War Party is the party led by Nikol Pashinyan. About this 168TVof Revue announced on the air of the program Gagik Minasyan, member of the RPA Executive Bodytalking about Nikol Pashinyan’s speech in the European Parliament.
“Isn’t the war party the party under whose rule we had wars?” The party of war is the party in whose power you had wars, and by the number of those wars, the party led by this nation-destroying scourge is the party of war itself. But there are two types of wars: losing or winning. During this nation-destruction, all wars were losing.
During the era of this nation destroyer, we had the most extreme wars, all of them were defeated, as a result of all of them, our young men went and died, they were killed during such a war, which was caused by this nation destroying plague. We have lost our territories, today more than 200 square kilometers of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia is under Azerbaijani control, all the high positions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which control the transport movement in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, are under the control of Azerbaijan, thousand-year-old churches and monasteries are under the control of Azerbaijan today, our churches, monuments, sanctuaries are being vandalized, demolished and destroyed, people who put their homes for generations, have been deprived of all that, and he has the audacity to call others a “war party”? He brought death and war to the Armenian people, and he is the party of war,” commented Gagik Minasyan.
The Republican figure is convinced that if Pashinyan remains in power, “he will continue his death and war”.
“I can say the place: it will start from Syunik. In 2021, he said the same words that they don’t shoot, there is peace on the border. Then what happened? Then what happened happened. when you retreat, the enemy advances.
In the pre-election program, it was written: de-occupation of Shushi, Hadrut, but not only Hadrut and Shushi remained under occupation, but the whole of Artsakh was depopulated, therefore, if this is the plan of its masters, it is implementing the plan of its masters, that means, its masters say: “Say whatever you want, as long as you are elected in the 2026 elections”, then what happened after 2021 will happen, therefore, if he declares today that they will not shoot in Kirantsi, it means that after the elections they will not only shoot in Kirantsi”, added the former member of the National Assembly.
Before the National Assembly elections, Gagik Minasyan warns the public that if Pashinyan’s party is re-elected, we will have losses after the elections. the so-called “enclaves” will be surrendered, there will be problems in Syunik.
“The best way to hide it is to say ‘they don’t shoot.’ They don’t shoot today, until the elections, after the elections we will have losses as a result. He deceives and deceives the Armenian people, leads him to new trials on the instructions of his masters. The name “Nation-Destroying Plague” was correctly given to him.
Gagik Minasyan is especially concerned about the war against Iran and its possible effects and consequences on Armenia and Armenian-Iranian relations. According to the interlocutor, Iran will not forget that Nikol Pashinyan did not go to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and did not make a note in the condolence book opened in connection with the victims.
He believes that Iran can respond to it in the same way as it did with Arab countries and neighboring countries where American military bases are located.
“Even Cyprus was bombed, NATO member Turkey was bombed, an incomprehensible incident happened in Nakhichevan. I think that we will get that answer in one way or another if this administration stays in power and takes leadership positions after June 7. Yes, definitely. You know, if a mistake is not punished, it is something unacceptable to the person who suffered as a result. Armenia has really done something that is wrong towards a friendly country in international relations. He should get that answer, not the country, but the government, and the only way to neutralize it is to change this government, which is in the interests of the Armenian people.
If its owners come and insist that their positions should be implemented by these RA authorities, then we should not be surprised that the answer will be the same as, say, in Nakhichevan. If they try to open a new front from Armenia against the Islamic Republic of Iran, I don’t even want to talk about that nightmare, but if such a thing happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will treat them the way it treated our neighbors who created bases against Iran,” Gagik Minasyan believes.
Let’s remind that on March 11, Nikol Pashinyan gave a speech in the European Parliament, talking about the violations of freedom of conscience in Armenia, the establishment of a dictatorship, the accusations related to the presence of political prisoners, and in response accused that some clerics who “violated all the rules of spiritual behavior” “took over the leadership of the war party” in Armenia.
Full interview in the video.
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168: Karen Demirchyan said: “That road will pass only over your dead body”… Pashi
March: 12, 2026
Satik Seyranyan in the “Pressing” program the guest It is Vardan Hakobyan, extraordinary envoy and plenipotentiary minister of RA, political analyst։
The main theses of the interview are below.
- Pashinyan fulfills the instructions he received from the West, and Azerbaijan controls their implementation. All the steps of that person show that he is consistently doing what he was brought for: the Artsakh issue, the depopulation of Artsakh, the issue of the Genocide, the rejection of the symbol of Mount Ararat… Turkey managed to prevent Armenia from accepting the fact of the Genocide, when many advanced countries of the world accepted this fact until 2018. If something like this had happened 10-20 years ago, I can’t imagine what would have happened, but now some Armenians look at it calmly. Pashinyan’s steps will change the national mentality.
- The current government of RA is intensively doing what Turkey has done for decades, even falsifying their own history. After all, when Atatürk came to power, even he condemned the fact of Genocide.
- The claim is not about demanding land, it is a question of your national self-awareness, history, and culture. If you erase that, you have to erase your literature, history, memory, everything… All our classic literature is based on the reality of the Genocide. Genocide is condemned all over the world denial, here they condemn those who remember it…
- When I was in school, most of my classmates did not know what the Armenian Genocide was. The Bolsheviks managed to erase that memory. From the 60s, that topic found its place among us again. Now they are doing the same, and if this continues, a moment will come when today’s generation will not remember the Armenian Genocide. This is what our enemies want.
- Anyone who tries to erase the memories of the Holocaust, the genocide of the Jews in Israel, breaks or distorts the facts, what will be done to them…
- When the leadership of the European Union changed, they were replaced by liberal-globalists, and the entire ideology of the EU changed. This is what they were prepared for. Pashinyan told the European Parliament yesterday what they wanted to hear, not what Armenia and the Armenian people need.:
- The Armenian Church, with its presence, its saints and its history, is anti-globalist. For that, they should sculpt the church, national self-awareness, culture… This is not a new phenomenon. Poroshenko did the same in Ukraine:
- I will not be surprised if Pashinyan does a gay parade before the elections, to tell some foreign centers: I am one of you, I am yours… All this will disappear sooner or later, the real state interests will come forward. China, Iran, and to some extent, Russia maintain the national.
- The moment of retribution will inevitably come. You can get excited, build a tower of Babel, but that tower will be destroyed, you will be punished. Aliyev’s turn to answer will come.
- I am sure that TRIPP was interesting to Trump only in the context of the attack on Iran, and when Iran ceased to be a priority for the United States, they would no longer be interested in that Corridor and would hand over its management to someone else. The US is not interested in that Corridor, Turkey and Azerbaijan are interested. Pashinyan fulfilled their dream. The USA will never want and will not allow that after solving the Iran issue, another monster will come instead, in the form of some Turkish conglomerate. The US will not allow the formation of a new Ottoman Empire:
To remind: today, Nikol Pashinyan stated in a briefing that the “Trump’s Way” project is not among the priorities for the US administration at the moment against the background of the events taking place around Iran.
“You see what is happening and what they are busy with now. Unfortunately, there is a high probability that processes will be affected in terms of time. Now the US government is focused on another problem, of course, if it turns out that it won’t affect it, even better,” he said.
- Aliyev won this state, demanded to sign an ultimatum. Aliyev is furious and hates the Russians because they stopped the 2020 elections. war by bringing in troops. Their plan for 2020 was to solve the Corridor issue, and the Russians thwarted the plan agreed between Aliyev and Pashinyan.
- The situation around Iran is also dangerous because tomorrow Aliyev can say: Iran is entering Armenia, I, as a “big brother”, should send troops to Meghri to protect it, and he will. And if Azerbaijan brings in troops, it will not withdraw again.
- Humanitarian dust is blowing in people’s eyes, but one should think politically, not guided by emotions. there is interest and the pursuit of that interest. All states pursue their own interests, and we are the only ones who say: give everything, no matter what…
- These authorities do not decide anything, they do what they are told. The plan to turn our Syunik into a NATO corridor is being implemented.
Nikol Pashinyan In his speech at the European Parliament, he announced the approval of Aliyev’s “Western Azerbaijan” project and promised to make it a reality at all costs. He declared.
“Now I also want to say that the Republic of Armenia is ready to provide the automobile connection between the Western regions of Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhjevan with the Kornidzor-Goris-Yeghegnadzor-Yeraskh route with the infrastructures that are in operation today.
This proposal of ours is not intended to delay, disrupt, forget the Washington agreements in any way, and I say this officially. We make this offer because, as I mentioned above, we use the Azerbaijani railway in a slightly alternative way. As Azerbaijan is waiting for the establishment of the connection to Nakhjevan through the territory of Armenia, so we are waiting for the establishment of the railway connection between the south and the north of Armenia through the territory of Nakhjevan.․ this railway route has no alternative for Armenia, because the mountainous relief of our country does not allow to have a railway connection between the south and the north of the country in any other way. As you can see, the expectations of Armenia and Azerbaijan do not contradict each other in this regard.”
- Pashinyan’s plan to bring Azerbaijanis to Armenia via the same road route was planned by Heydar Aliyev, as far as I remember, in 1982. At that time, the relevant official responsible for our road construction is called to Moscow to carry it out, and when he returns, Karen Demirchyan tells him: “That road will only pass over your dead body.” Later, Karen Demirchyan and her team were able to remove that issue from the agenda. Now Pashinyan presents it as a humanitarian program to help Azerbaijan:
- Dear citizens, how much dust can be blown in your eyes and you believe it too…
- When one compromises, one loses one’s self and becomes a sacrificial lamb. Հիմա մեր ժողովուրդը գնում է այդ ճանապարհով: Այն, ինչ հիմա անում է Իրանը, էպիկական բան է: Ես չգիտեմ այսօր մի ժողովուրդ, որը պատրաստ է տանել այն, ինչ տանում է Իրանը: Էդ տեսակ ազգերին հաղթել չի լինում: Իրանցիներն իրենց պահում են՝ որպես 3000-ամյա ազգ: Իրանը կյանքի գնով իրենը պահում է: This is something unique. Սա էքզիստենցիալ՝ գոյաբանական կռիվ է:
- Ruling Iran means ruling the infrastructure of energy systems. That’s a huge thing. If Iran is defeated, what the Russians stand to lose is incomparable to their gains from today’s oil prices. It’s funny when I hear some Russian analysts say how much money Russia will make from oil sales as a result of this war… Oil prices will settle tomorrow, but if Iran is resolved, it’s the Russians’ turn tomorrow.:
- Iran issue has no solution. The USA and Israel do not have a solution, nor does Iran. To win this war is to destroy it, because Israel has made this issue ontological. For Iran, this problem is a civilizational one, as well as a religious one, just as it is a religious one for Israel and the United States:
- The largest denominations are in the US. Let’s not forget Epstein. Everyone in the US political elite is from Epstein’s HR department.
- Launching a ground operation means hundreds to thousands of casualties, and it is still a question of who will take responsibility for it. The US will not send troops to Iran, and perhaps the issue will once again be temporarily resolved. In any case, this issue will have serious consequences for Kaya Kalas and others like her.
- Connect the territories as much as you want, you will not restore the USSR. Time has passed.
- For the West, there is no Russian-Ukrainian difference. For Boris Johnson, the former prime minister of Great Britain, it doesn’t matter who is who among the Slavs, he doesn’t even distinguish between a Russian and a Ukrainian, for him it doesn’t matter, the important thing is to kill each other and eliminate them. That is why he did not allow the war in Ukraine to stop, he said that until the last Ukrainian should fight, die…
The Ukrainian nation, the state created by the Bolsheviks, was the most powerful republic. Even after the collapse of the USSR, even Russia did not have the potential of Ukraine. Through oligarchs, they started destroying the army, the economy, worsened relations with Russia… today they have already killed 1.5 million people according to US data.:
- Bringing Pashinyan to power does not characterize the Armenian people. It is another thing that the plebs want to remove our national self-awareness from our brains. What they are doing with our education and history is white genocide. Of course, it won’t stay like this, it will pass, the muddy water will be cleaned, the spring will remain. Everything will pass, this problem will also pass, but the sad thing is that we will lack material for reproduction.
- Saakashvili, Pashinyan, the wretch of Moldova were brought up in the same kindergarten.
Details in the video.
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RFE/RL – Georgian Sailors Survive Iranian Attack On Ship Off Iraqi Coast
- By RFE/RL’s Georgian Service and
- Merhat Sharipzhan
All 23 Georgian crew members aboard a Malta-flagged tanker struck by Iran off the Iraqi coast have been rescued, a relative of one of the sailors told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service.
Two oil tankers sailing in Iraqi territorial waters were struck in the Persian Gulf early on March 12, with sailors describing a coordinated attack involving drones and explosive devices.
Iranian state television confirmed that Iranian forces had attacked the tankers, reporting that at least one vessel was hit by an Iranian unmanned vehicle from the water.
One of the targeted ships was the Malta-flagged tanker Zefyros, which included the 23 Georgian sailors, while the second vessel that was hit, Safesea Vishnu, was sailing under a Marshall Islands flag and was chartered by an Iraqi company, according to the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO).
Ariel Cohen: Iran’s Energy Pressure Campaign ‘Ultimately Unsustainable’
“I spoke with him around midnight and everything was fine,” Nincho Surmanidze, the wife of Georgian sailor Irakli Jashi, told RFE/RL. “Then he called me again around 2:30 a.m. and quickly said: ‘We’re all OK, everyone survived.'”
Later in the morning, she said, her husband told her a drone had struck their tanker, triggering a fire that heavily damaged the vessel.
“He said everything burned,” Surmanidze added.
According to Iraqi authorities, 38 sailors were rescued from the tankers targeted in the attack and were transported to an Iraqi port.
At least one sailor was killed, Iraqi officials said, though the victim’s identity and nationality have not been disclosed.
Surmanidze said her husband had been working aboard the vessel for about six months and had been scheduled to return to Georgia on March 10 before the ship was delayed due to the conflict in the Middle East.
“If there had been no war in the region, he would have already been home,” she said.
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The attack occurred amid rising tensions across the region as Iran retaliates for ongoing US and Israeli air strikes.
Much of Tehran’s campaign appears aimed at disrupting global energy markets, especially hitting targets around the Gulf, including vessels, raising security risks for commercial shipping routes that are vital to the oil and gas industries.
Some analysts say the reported use of drones, remotely detonated explosives, and unmanned vehicles in the water suggests a sophisticated maritime strike designed to damage tankers while limiting direct confrontation.
Officials at Georgia’s Maritime Transport Agency and the Foreign Ministry were not available to comment when contacted by RFE/RL’s Georgian Service, saying information about the incident would be released later.
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RFE/RL – Investigation Highlights Iran’s Growing Footprint In Georgia
- By Nastasia Arabuli and
- Ulviyya Asadzade
Georgia’s State Security Service has launched an investigation into claims that Iran is expanding its influence in the country through Georgian Shi’ite communities, growing concerns about Tehran’s religious and political outreach in the South Caucasus country.
The probe follows a report by the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, and public statements by opposition politicians alleging Iran has been building networks of influence in Georgia, particularly among ethnic Azerbaijani Shi’ite communities in the southeastern Kvemo Kartli region.
Thousands Of Iranian Companies Operating In Georgia Amid Sanctions Evasion Concerns
It also comes at a time when Georgia’s foreign policy orientation has become increasingly contested. Once Washington’s closest ally in the South Caucasus, Georgia, under its current government, has increasingly distanced itself from the West while strengthening ties with Russia, China, and Iran.
Iran’s intent, according to the Hudson Institute report published March 4, is to “groom the next generation of Georgian Shi’ite leaders, foster loyalty to Iran’s political theology, and normalize anti-American narratives.”
Economic ties between Georgia and Iran have also drawn scrutiny.
Nearly 13,000 Iranian-linked companies are registered in Georgia, many associated with only a handful of addresses — a pattern analysts say raises concerns about possible sanctions evasion.
Some investigators say Iranian firms may be using Georgia as a transit point to bypass international restrictions, with certain companies reportedly linked to Iran’s armed forces.
Georgia’s State Security Service told RFE/RL the claims about Iran’s outreach contradict available evidence and said authorities are examining the motivations behind the accusations.
Speaking to journalists, Tbilisi Mayor Kakhi Kaladze — a top official in the ruling Georgian Dream party — accused former Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli of committing a “traitorous act” for recent statements on the issue.
Kaladze also lashed out at former MP Giorgi Kandelaki, a political activist and co-author of the Hudson Institute report titled “Georgia’s Iranian Turn: Tehran’s Rapid Expansion of Influence in a Once-Committed US Ally.”
The Hudson Institute said in a statement that it condemned the government’s investigation into the authors of the report, which it said should serve as a wake-up call for Georgian authorities.
Once Washington’s Closest Caucasus Partner, Georgia Watches Vance Visit From The Outside
“This report should serve as a wake-up call — especially at a time when Iran serves as a destabilizing force in the region,” John Waters, the think tank’s president, said in a statement on March 9.
“Rather than investigating the authors of the report, Georgian authorities should be concerned by its findings, which rely overwhelmingly on publicly accessible information that the authorities should already be aware of,” he added.
Shi’ite activism in Georgia dates back to the late 1980s when Soviet borders opened and Muslim populations in the Soviet republics began reconnecting with religious institutions abroad, according to Aleksandre Kvakhadze, a researcher specializing in the Caucasus and terrorism at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS).
“Amid tightened religious policies in Azerbaijan, Georgia offered a much freer environment with fewer restrictions, allowing Shi’ite groups to extend their influence more widely,” she said.
Much of the focus of public debate in Georgia has centered on activities linked to Al-Mustafa International University, a global network of Shi’ite seminaries headquartered in the Iranian city of Qom.
The institution was sanctioned by the United States last year amid allegations that it recruited Afghan and Pakistani students to fight in the Syrian conflict.
The university operates in several Georgian cities with large Azerbaijani populations.
RFE/RL was unable to trace the full network of the university’s alumni in Georgia, though some former students are believed by analysts to work as mosque leaders, lecturers, or cultural activists.
“Among the Shi’a in Georgia, there is sympathy for Iran. It would not be objective to deny that,” Oktay Kazimov, a former teacher at Al-Mustafa, told RFE/RL.
The issue has taken on extra life with the launching of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
Many Iranian Shi’a have reacted sharply to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the initial wave of air strikes on February 28.
Khamenei’s death prompted a group of demonstrators to gather in front of the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi, holding images of the slain leader and chanting: “I am ready to carry out your order.”
Irakli Kobakhidze, head of the Georgian Dream government, who is known for his anti-Western statements, compared the gathering to ongoing pro-European demonstrations outside the Georgian parliament.
“A hundred people gather in front of the Parliament of Georgia and make statements against the Georgian state. All of this needs to be managed,” he said.
Public displays of pro-Iranian sentiment have also appeared in parts of Kvemo Kartli, a region south of Tbilisi bordering Azerbaijan and Armenia and home to much of Georgia’s ethnic Azerbaijani population.
“Iranians have long been present in Kvemo Kartli, but under the Georgian Dream their presence has grown and become more visible,” Georgian political analyst Giorgi Sanikadze told RFE/RL.
The pulse of Georgia’s Shi’ite community can often be taken at the Imam Reza Mosque in the city of Marneuli. The mosque is a major Shi’ite religious site and community hub for the local Azerbaijani population.
Orchestrating Violence
The mosque made headlines in February when it issued a statement accusing the United States and its Western allies of orchestrating violence across the Middle East. It blamed Washington and Israel for conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan, and Yemen, while describing those killed in recent protests in Iran as “rebels against the Islamic order.”
“I can also see Iranian influence increasing in Kvemo Kartli among Azerbaijanis, but it is not as high as some Georgian politicians and civil-society leaders claim. It is limited to a small group of people,” Rabil Ismail, a civic activist from Kvemo Kartli, told RFE/RL.
“At the same time, I see hate speech against Azerbaijanis increasing on social media. This is a sensitive issue and could harm peace among Georgia’s communities. As a community, we do not want any country — including Iran –interfering in Kvemo Kartli,” he added.
Recent security incidents have also drawn attention to possible Iranian-linked activities connected to Georgia.
On March 2, Greek police detained a 36-year-old Georgian citizen at Athens airport on suspicion of spying for Iran. While authorities have released few details, a Georgian media outlet reported that the suspect is an ethnic Azerbaijani from Georgia. RFE/RL’s Georgian Service could not verify the claim.
Experts also look back to last year when Georgian-born crime boss Polad Omarov was found guilty of participating in a 2022 plot to assassinate US-based Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad in New York.
RFE/RL’s Georgian Service has reported that Omarov is ethnic Azerbaijani.
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RFE/RL – Iran War Hampering Work On ‘Trump Route,’ Says Pashinian
- Shoghik Galstian
The continuing war between the United States and Israel and Iran will likely delay the planned opening of a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan through Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday.
“It is obvious that the TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) is not a priority for the US administration today, at least, because we see what is happening and what they are busy with,” he told reporters. “Unfortunately, there is a high probability that it will affect [relevant] processes in terms of timelines because the [U.S.] government is focused on that issue.”
The TRIPP is due to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s strategic Syunik region bordering Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan released the first major details of the TRIPP after meeting in Washington on January 13.
A joint U.S.-Armenian “implementation framework” confirmed that a special company controlled by the U.S. government will build a railway, a road, energy supply lines and other infrastructure along Armenia’s border with Iran and manage them for at least 49 years. Pashinian and Mirzoyan said late last year that work on that infrastructure will start this summer.
In the months leading up to the ongoing war, Iranian officials, notably a top aide to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke out against the transit arrangement. They feared that it could undermine Armenian control of the border and lead to U.S. security presence there. Yerevan sought to allay their concerns. Some observers believe that Tehran will now be even more opposed to the TRIPP even if the war is stopped in the coming days or weeks.
Iran is a major trading partner of Armenia and one of the landlocked country’s two conduits to the outside world. Although the Armenian-Iranian border has remained largely open since the start of the U.S.-Israeli air strikes on the Islamic Republic on February 28, the conflict has reportedly led to a serious fall in cargo traffic between the two states.
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Pashinian Admits Forcing Armenian Genocide Museum Head To Resign
- Shoghik Galstian
- Susan Badalian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday acknowledged that he forced the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) to resign because of what she told and gave U.S. Vice President JD Vance during his recent visit to Yerevan.
The director, Edita Gzoyan, gifted Vance five books after he and his wife Usha laid flowers on February 10 at a memorial to the victims of the 1915 genocide, which is part of the AGMI. Gzoyan also escorted them to other parts of the complex, including cross-stones placed in memory of Armenians killed in 1988-1990 pogroms in Azerbaijan. According to an AGMI press release, she emphasized “the connection between those events and the Armenian Genocide” in Ottoman Turkey.
Gzoyan tendered her resignation earlier this month. Pashinian confirmed that she did so “on my instructions.”
“Yes, I considered [the gift to Vance] an action contrary to the foreign policy pursued by the government, I considered it a provocative action and asked her to write a resignation letter,” he told journalists.
“When the country’s prime minister says there is no Karabakh movement, what does it mean to present a book on the Artsakh issue to a foreign guest? … Foreign policy in Armenia is conducted by the government of Armenia, and any Armenian government official who says anything that contradicts the government’s foreign policy should be fired,” said Pashinian.
Gzoyan has still not publicly commented on her resignation which upset the AGMI staff. The AGMI press release said that the books handed by her to Vance related to “the Armenian Genocide and the Artsakh issue.”
AGMI sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Gzoyan for years gave the same books and organized the same tours for all foreign dignitaries visiting the Tsitsernakaberd memorial. Pashinian’s protocol service did not give her any instructions ahead of Vance’s visit, according to them. Also, the AGMI has a division on “research on the repression of Armenians in the Armenian-populated regions of Artsakh, Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan.”
The director of the genocide memorial and its research wing is appointed by its board of trustees, rather tan the prime minister or even the Armenian Ministry of Education, Culture and Youth Affairs. Pashinian’s intervention may therefore be portrayed by his critics as abuse of power.
The board’s chairman, French-Armenian genocide scholar Raymond Kevorkian, and several members resigned last week. They included Hranush Kharatian, a prominent historian and sociologist. Kharatian criticized Pashinian’s remarks as a threat to academic freedom in Armenia when she spoke with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service later on Thursday.
“It looks like our prime minister … wants to decide by himself the scope of academic freedoms and what research centers can say,” she said.
Pashinian promptly replaced Kharatian and other board members on March 6. He is expected to install one of his former aides, Hrachya Tashchian, as the new AGMI director on Friday.
Tashchian already occupied Gzoyan’s office on Thursday. He denied that the prime minister is exerting pressure on the AGMI and its scholars.
Pashinian has repeatedly declared that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. He recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh even before Baku restored control over the region following the September 2023 military offensive that forced its entire population to flee to Armenia. In a speech at the European Parliament on Wednesday, Pashinian again stated that the Karabakh Armenians should forget about returning to their homeland.
Pashinian has also offered far-reaching concessions to Turkey, which provided Azerbaijan with decisive military support during the 2020 war with Armenia. In particular, he declared last year that Armenians should “understand what happened” in 1915 and what prompted the subsequent campaign for international recognition of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Armenian historians, opposition figures and retired diplomats expressed outrage at the remarks, saying that Pashinian cast doubt on the fact of the genocide officially recognized by over three dozen countries, including the United Staes.
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