While US President Donald Trump, after a telephone conversation with the President of Russia at the initiative of the US, announces the end of the war with Iran soon, and the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsett declares that the US will end the war with Iran “according to its schedule”, international press releases and statements from Iran show that Iran is not going to back down and is toughening its rhetoric.

First of all, let’s remind that on March 10 US President announced that the war was “almost completely over”. Trump also noted that “we have already won in many ways, but we have not won enough”.

Unlike Trump, Hegsett said that the US would not withdraw from the war with Iran until “the enemy is completely and decisively defeated”.

“As President Trump announced yesterday, we are defeating the enemy by demonstrating technical skills and military power,” Hegsett said. According to him, Iran’s leaders are “desperate and in a hurry” because the war has been going on for the second week. Meanwhile, the United States intends to attack Iran’s missile potential, navy and military industrial bases.

On March 9, at the initiative of the American side, US President Trump had a telephone conversation with Russian President Putin. Yuri Ushakov, assistant to the Russian president, informed that Trump called Putin to discuss “a number of extremely important topics related to the current developments of the international situation.”

The main topics of the conversation were the conflict with Iran and the tripartite negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement with the participation of US representatives.

Ushakov said that Putin expressed a number of considerations aimed at the speedy political-diplomatic settlement of the Iranian conflict, including taking into account the contacts he had with the leaders of the Persian Gulf countries, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and leaders of a number of other countries.

According to him, Trump gave his assessment of the development of the situation in the context of the ongoing American-Israeli operation. “I would like to note that there was quite a substantive and, I think, not useless exchange of ideas on this issue,” said the president’s assistant.

Parallel to all this, Lebanese «Al Mayadeen» The TV channel, referring to its sources, wrote that Iran does not accept the mediation initiatives regarding the ceasefire and puts forward its own conditions for starting negotiations with the USA. “Iran rejects all mediation initiatives regarding the cease-fire, because it has conditions and wants to receive real guarantees,” the message states.

According to the TV channel, the leadership of the Islamic Republic rejects the current proposals of the mediators, as it considers them insufficient and insists on clearer obligations. In particular, Tehran demands from the US.

• Guarantees of non-aggression in the future,
• Compensation payment,
• An agreement that Iran will be able to implement a complete nuclear fuel cycle at its nuclear power facilities.

Bloomberg the agency also writes that the US armed forces faced serious difficulties in the confrontation with Iran due to the large arsenal of missiles and drones of the Islamic Republic. According to the newspaper, almost two weeks after the start of the conflict, the US military is forced to actively spend expensive interceptor missiles to repel Iranian attacks, and despite the Pentagon’s statements that the number of strikes has been reduced by about 80 percent, Tehran continues to launch daily attacks on military facilities and energy infrastructure in the Middle East.

Bloomberg notes that Iran has accumulated stocks of missiles and drones for years, deploying them in different regions of the country. Ballistic missiles are able to overcome the air defense systems of US allies, and cheap Shahed type drones force the use of expensive air defense systems. According to the publication, some Iranian systems prevent the US from establishing full control over Iran’s airspace.

“Unable to achieve absolute superiority in the air, the American military is using long-range missiles more actively. According to Bloomberg, several hundred Tomahawk missiles were used during the first hundred hours of combat operations.

The agency points out that the production of such weapons is limited. According to former Pentagon employee Elaine McCusker, less than a hundred Tomahawk missiles are released annually, so it may take years to replenish the stockpile. Earlier The New York Timesalso wrote that the use of cheap drones by Iran leads to the rapid consumption of expensive missiles of the USA and its allies.

According to the periodicals, one Shahed-136 drone can cost 20-50 thousand dollars, while one missile of the Patriot complex costs more than 3 million dollars. US officials estimate US costs in the first week of hostilities at about $6 billion. US Central Command (CENTCOM) according to data, during the first five days of the conflict, Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2 thousand drones.

“168 Hours” in a conversation with Iranian analyst Khayal Muazzin expressed confidence that Iran is in control of the situation and is definitely not losing, if not the opposite, because, he said, the US is looking for ways to stop the war and save face.

According to him, this is shown by US diplomatic moves and contradictory statements. He believes that in Iran they are ready for any scenario, they have been preparing for war for a long time, so the war will most likely stop if Iran’s conditions are accepted.

“This is an extraordinary situation. Already for the second time, and this time also during very effective negotiations, they are attacking Iran, trying to surprise and defeat it.

The war was started by the US, but the situation is dictated by Iran, and the outcome depends on which side will be able to withstand how much and how. Iran is determined to respond to attacks by its adversaries, and is also determined to act clearly, targeting only the aggressors: Israel and American bases in the region, which embody the American presence in the Middle East region.

In addition, Iran stated that if there is an attack, Iran will perceive it as a full-scale war, and it has done so,” said Khayal Muazin. However, according to his observation, the general information background allows to claim that the West wants to stop all this.

“However, in Iran they understand that the issue should be thoroughly resolved,” said Khayal Muazin.

As for the South Caucasus region, in his opinion, the current course of the war stems from the interests of the region and Iran.

According to him, if problems arise with Iran, the first consequences will most likely be felt by Armenia, which has Iran’s support in all matters.

“It is obvious that if Iran weakens, Armenia will not benefit from it, other forces will benefit from it, which is not in Armenia’s interests. Therefore, Iran should continue its clear policy for its own sake and regional stability,” Khayal Muazzin said.

—

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed that the official Yerevan refused to give Russia the opportunity to provide humanitarian assistance to the Artsakh Armenians. During today’s briefing, Zakharova said that Armenia has given up support to the Karabaghs through “Russian Humanitarian Mission”, “Eurasia” organizations and Rossotrudnichestvo, which was launched in June-July 2025, in response to the request of Armenian non-governmental organizations.

“During this period, assistance was provided to almost 7,000 families located in almost all major cities of the republic and in remote and hard-to-reach communities and villages,” he detailed.

According to him, Russia has never left the people of the mentioned region without support and help and has never remained indifferent to the fate of the Karabakh people in Armenia.

Zakharova reminded that Moscow was one of the first to send humanitarian aid to Armenia, although at that time Yerevan was not very happy with the support of the Russian side, declaring: “Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”

“Even now, they refuse to continue the support planned for the people of Karabakh,” he said.

Zakharova detailed that during this period, about 140 tons of cargo were delivered: food, basic necessities, children’s kits. He emphasized that meeting such needs allowed the Armenian authorities to focus on the most pressing issues: housing security, employment and social integration. In addition, according to him, some products were bought in Armenia, which became an incentive for local production and small business.

Zakharova read the letter received from Armenia. “The legal norms of the Republic of Armenia limit the provision of donations and charitable aid during the pre-election period.”

He noted that the Russian side tried to find out what it meant, but there was no clarification.

He emphasized that the refusal of humanitarian aid, which has no political context, is due to the pre-election desire of the RA authorities to erase any mention of Russia in that period.

—

“LUYS” Foundation analyzed the 2025 vision of Yerevan city. budget execution report.

Thus.

• The actual size of the total revenues of the budget, 148.5 billion drams, is 27.2% higher than last year’s figure, but is 6.8% less than the figure planned by the approved budget. The increase was provided by “taxes and duties” and “other revenues”.

Several legislative changes, not pleasing to the public, contributed significantly to the collection of Yerevan city budget revenues.

In particular, the increase in taxes and fees is mainly due to the increase of the property tax base by 50% compared to the previous year, the real estate tax payments calculated as a result of considering multi-apartment buildings and other buildings without a certificate of completion as a single completed building in 2025, real estate tax payments for new property units generated during the year, as well as the increase in construction fees due to the increase in the volume of construction works.

The increase in other property taxes is due to the increase in the number of vehicles. And in other revenues, the increase in actual revenues for local fees, which constitute the main part of administrative charges, was mainly provided at the expense of changing the methodology of calculating garbage collection fees for residential buildings.

The fees charged for parking in the parking lot, on the contrary, decreased by 8.4% compared to 2024. Although parking fees have increased from 2 to 13.3 times since January 1, 2024, the actual collections in 2025 are only 62.7% more than the 2023 figure.

Bearing in mind that no tangible off-street parking load shedding was recorded during the mentioned period, it is hard to believe that the main reason for such a relatively “modest” increase in the collection of parking fees is a reduction in the number of parked cars.

• 2025 of the city of Yerevan the budget expenditures, 140.8 billion drams, were underachieved in relation to both the approved and specified plan. Underperformance refers to both current and capital costs. In percentage terms, the shortfall in capital expenditure is more than 4.5 times higher than the shortfall in current expenditure.

  Among the expenses, special attention is paid to the expenses incurred for the purpose of rewards, monetary incentives and special payments, which increased more than tenfold during the last three years and amounted to 2.8 billion drams in 2025. Moreover, their actual size in the reporting year exceeded the figure planned by the approved budget by 3.4 times.

  According to the operational classification, there is an underperformance in relation to the specified plan for all expenditure directions. The recorded significant shortcomings prove once again that budget planning remains one of the weakest aspects of the city authorities.

• Not even half of the budgeted expenditures approved for many of the vitally important projects have been implemented. Among such programs, we can single out “Rehabilitation and maintenance of bridge structures”, “Reconstruction and overhaul of highways and streets”, “Modernization of transport system”, “Yerevan city lighting program”, three programs aimed at increasing Yerevan’s energy efficiency, etc. The picture of some programs with a large public resonance is very worrying. It is noteworthy that.

  The 9.6 billion drams allocated by the 2025 budget for the construction of the “Ajapnyak” station within the framework of the “Yerevan metro infrastructure construction” project was reduced more than 7 times according to the specified plan, but even in this case, the performance was only 56.2%. Moreover, the actual expenses of 0.8 billion drams refer only to the payment for the design and estimate documents, which was still provided for in the 2024 budget.

  Although the 3.0 billion drams provided in the approved plan for the implementation of the project “Construction and overhaul of pre-school educational institutions implemented with state support (delegated powers)” was reduced four times by the revised plan, however, even that reduced plan was underachieved, when one of the most important targets of the current government’s activity plan is the construction and overhaul of 300 schools and 500 kindergartens.

• In 2025, the budget of the city of Yerevan had an actual surplus of 7.7 billion drams, against the deficit of 8.7 billion drams planned in the revised plan. In addition, the budget deficit was increased 100-fold by the revised plan compared to the amount planned by the approved plan, but instead of the deficit, a surplus was recorded that was roughly comparable to it.

Although at the beginning of the report, an attempt was made to give the best possible explanation for the low performance of the budget: “the deviations of the planned and actual spent amounts are mainly due to the savings generated in the procurement process and the transfer of contractual obligations”, but in the text of the same report, it is further stated that “the deviations of the planned and actual indicators are mainly due to the complete or partial non-implementation of the programs implemented within the powers delegated to the Mayor of Yerevan”.

The latter speaks about the insufficient level of management of the city government.

The full analysis is available with the following link.

 “LUYS” Foundation

—

Nikol Pashinyan said in a press conference with journalists after the Cabinet meeting today that when the clergy use the expression “Republic of Artsakh” during church liturgies, they are inciting war with Azerbaijan.

“Regarding the question of why I say that the Church, Kprich Nersisyan and his group, took over the leadership of the war party, it has a very simple explanation. I go to liturgy and I see that during the liturgy they refer to the Republic of Artsakh and so on, and there is no such thing in the text of the liturgy, they deviate from the text of the liturgy. What does that mean, it means conflict, that is, we refer to Artsakh Republic, etc., it first means conflict, and then, if we adopt that theory, on the way to that theory, we have to go to conflict, so how do we solve it?

Every such sentence means a call to war: today, tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, I don’t know, but it means a call to war. When they say: Republic of Artsakh from every pulpit, they have stepped on the road to war.

Every time we say this, Azerbaijan in turn develops its speech. They say: return, what kind of return, where to return, is there a topic of return of refugees, but Azerbaijan is putting forward the same thing in the same way. Those topics will develop, develop, clash with each other and become a war.” announced Pashinyan.

Former HRD of Artsakh Republic, former Minister of State Artak Beglaryan for example, it is interesting why Nikol Pashinyan never responds to the statements of the Azerbaijani authorities and state bodies.

“When, for example, Azerbaijan announces the return of “West Azerbaijan”, “Zangezur”, “West Azeris”, state bodies and media use Armenian place names as Azerbaijani names, doesn’t Nikol Pashinyan think that they are inciting war with this? Or is he just confident in his abilities that he will not start a war, but he is not sure that Aliyev will start or not?

In fact, their policy is a policy of war, because by constantly giving in, constantly being humiliated, humiliating us all, giving in to our intransigent borders, there will be physical and non-physical borders, thereby showing Azerbaijan that it is possible to have war results even without war. It is possible to get everything they want by waging cognitive or hybrid warfare.

Nikol Pashinyan is either conducting the Turkish-Azerbaijani policy deliberately, which literally means treason, or he lacks the minimum political maturity to do all this for years.” 168.am–Artak Beglaryan said in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, there is also a third version, according to which Nikol Pashinyan is not interested in Armenia, the Armenian people, rights, etc., he is only interested in himself and his government. And in order to preserve that power, he feels that he can go in that direction in order to keep the Armenian society always divided and to be able to neutralize the possible threats to his power by intimidating the people with external threats and internal “enemies”.

Artak Beglaryan has been of the belief for a long time that Nikol Pashinyan understands many things very well and he does everything by understanding them. for example, it should not put the issues of those forcibly displaced from Artsakh and Azerbaijanis who left Armenia on the same level.

“At least that’s how he interprets it, that many things need to be done to maintain his power.

By the way, Aliyev has approximately the same motivation, that is, Aliyev is preaching Armenian hatred there, committing crimes against the Armenian people in order to perpetuate his power, Nikol Pashinyan is conducting such concessionary, humiliating and divisive policies here to maintain his power.

Of course, seasoning all that with propaganda manipulations, misleading the people, etc. But all this cannot lead to peace, it happens within the framework of approaches based on fair, dignified and mutual respect.

When one side constantly humiliates the other side, the rights of the weak side are constantly violated, the weak side cannot have peace. With this, he postpones a possible war, but does not neutralize the threat. And the threat is the Azeri ideology, the Armenian hatred, which cannot be eliminated. The threat is Aliyev, it is our weakness, our division,” stressed Artak Beglaryan.

Our interlocutor emphasizes that Nikol Pashinyan is not the one who decided the return of Artsakh Armenians.

“Each citizen of Artsakh, in this case a refugee, decides for himself whether he wants to return or not. Unfortunately, the state position depends on Nikol Pashinyan, and since the people of Artsakh are stateless and we do not have a state, the only state that undertook our protection was the Republic of Armenia, it actually turns out that the political agenda of our return depends on the political will or unwillingness of Nikol Pashinyan. However, this does not mean that it will always be like this.

Nikolpashinyans will come and go, but our rights will be permanent. The main thing is that we do not give up on this issue and continue our struggle for return,” emphasized Artak Beglaryan.

—

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.

—

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.

—

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.

—

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

—

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.

—

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.

—