Pashinyan missed Raisi`s warning

After the talks in Sochi with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan flew to Tehran on Tuesday, heading a political and economic delegation. The visit was held at the invitation of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

After bilateral negotiations, Pashinyan and Raisi went to the journalists. Raisi said that Pashinyan's visit to Tehran would be a turning point in the expansion of relations between the two countries. He noted that trade relations with Armenia have grown by 43% in recent months, but the parties plan to increase the trade turnover to $3 billion.

Since the meeting is being held immediately after the talks in Sochi, the main focus of the parties is on politics. In this part, Tehran expressed its position. Saying that "security and peace in the Caucasus are very important for Iran", Raisi stated the main thing: "We believe that the problems in the Caucasus should be solved by the players in the region, and any interference by foreigners will lead to new challenges," the head of the Iranian government concluded (IRI state news agency İRNA).

"Foreigners" in Tehran can be considered countries whose territory does not belong to the Caucasus. France and the United States play an active role in the settlement of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, whose representatives actively visit Yerevan and issue statements there, which are guided by the Armenian government. The last visit of this series to Yerevan was made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi, who occupies the third most important position in the state hierarchy of the United States. While in Yerevan, in September of this year, she promised Armenia help from the United States in defense against Azerbaijan.

“The progress of democracy in Armenia is welcomed by the entire democratic world. We do not comment on Armenia's contacts with other organizations, but Armenia's security issues are important to us. The decision is made by Armenia, but we are ready to help if Armenia makes such a decision… We also hear the needs in the field of defense cooperation. The value and importance of our visit also lies in hearing and understanding how and what we can do in matters of economy and security, what expectations we have,” the speaker explained during a briefing on September 18. But for this, the guest specified, Yerevan must decide on its foreign policy priority.

Pashinyan's Armenia stands between two poles, both offering help in the conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijan. Iran insists on Pashinyan's refusal to cooperate with "non-Caucasians", openly referring to the European Union and the United States, which are hostile to Iran. Iran does not oppose the key role of the Russian Federation in the Karabakh issues.

In Sochi, Pashinyan did not state his choice, and he did not respond to Raisi's transparent warning either. However, today the Armenian media, citing the Yerevan "Hraparak", reported on the plans of official Yerevan to sign a peace treaty with Baku in the third capital of the South Caucasus - Tbilisi. The authors of the article emphasized that this event will take place before the end of the year and will put an end to the Karabakh issue: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will close the separatist project in Karabakh.

The information is sensational. According to the newspaper, active preparations for Nikol Pashinyan's meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tbilisi began this week, after their tripartite talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi. The reason is, “Hraparak” writes, that Nikol Pashinyan was not satisfied with the Russian position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement - despite his statements that Yerevan fully supports the Russian proposals.

The key consequence of the signing of the peace treaty in Tbilisi will be Armenia's refusal to support the Karabakh separatists and the obligation of the Armenian authorities not to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan, including the life of the Armenian population of the Karabakh economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In pursuance of the clauses of the peace treaty, Yerevan will take away the citizenship of Armenia from the Armenians living in the territory of Azerbaijan and stop financing separatist structures.

“Not only law enforcement agencies will lose funding, but the management system as a whole. Armenia will only get the right to implement projects of a charitable and social nature. Anything beyond this will be recognized as sponsoring separatism and terrorism,” the publication of “Hraparak” says.

Those Karabakh Armenians who do not want to obtain Azerbaijani citizenship and stay on Azerbaijani soil will have to leave the territory of the neighboring state, where they are illegally, as citizens of Armenia. In settlements such as Khojaly, where the majority before the Karabakh war were Azerbaijanis, Baku will regain full control immediately after the signing of a peace treaty.

The authors of the article drew attention to the fact that the words of Ilham Aliyev at a meeting in Sochi about the resolution of the Karabakh issue and the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the past were connected with these circumstances, in connection with which Baku has nothing to talk about this topic with Yerevan. Also, after the signing the peace treaty, Russian peacekeepers will be withdrawn from Karabakh, since the security of the Karabakh Armenians as citizens of Azerbaijan will completely fall on the shoulders of the Azerbaijani authorities.

“Hraparak's” statement may be a misinformation stuffing, intrigues of Pashinyan's political opponents, a plan to remove him from power through the organization of mass discontent in Armenia. On the other hand, representatives of the Pashinyan administration announced the signing of a peace treaty by the end of this year, and some recent statements by the Armenian Prime Minister point more to the rightness of “Hraparak” than to misinformation of journalists.