Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, who is in Armenia to participate in the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
After welcoming the President of Iran, Armenia’s Prime Minister Pashinyan noted that this is the first visit of Iran’s President to Armenia following the political changes that took place in our country, and that Armenia attaches great importance to relations with neighbouring and friendly countries… Armenia highly values Iran’s balanced position on the issue of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, expressed gratitude for the warm reception: “We consider the development and expansion of relations with Armenia in all spheres to be of great importance, as a friend and neighbour. We are ready to continue working with your government to develop and implement new programmes, and to expand the scope of the gas-for-electricity programme. At the same time, we are prepared to implement programmes for the production of electricity through gas, wind and solar energy in Armenia. We are interested in bringing regional projects in the energy sector to life and in developing infrastructure.” According to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian side is also interested in cooperation with Armenia in the field of transport infrastructure, including involvement in various road construction programmes in our country.
Prime Minister Pashinyan welcomed the Iranian side’s readiness to expand the gas-for-electricity programme. Armenia’s Prime Minister and Iran’s President instructed the officials of the two countries’ governments to develop and present proposals for expanding cooperation in the aforementioned sphere within a short timeframe.
The parties also touched upon issues related to cooperation in the fields of railways, high technologies, customs, science and tourism.
Rouhani emphasised that since Prime Minister Pashinyan assumed leadership of Armenia’s government, the volume of trade between the two countries has grown considerably, and joint programmes continue to succeed. The President of Iran added that they are also prepared to discuss the process of implementing the programme for the construction of the Meghri hydroelectric power plant, and to expand the volume of trade through bilateral investments and free trade zones.
The interlocutors also exchanged views on issues related to transit routes connecting the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed that bringing that programme to life stems from our country’s strategic interests, and Armenia is ready to take practical steps to that end.
During the meeting, the process of settling the Karabakh issue was also discussed. Hassan Rouhani considered the settlement of the conflict through peaceful negotiations to be important, taking into account the positions and opinions of all parties to the conflict.
