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President's visit to Iran damages Armenia's image - paper
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
7 Jul 06
Text of report by Anna Akopyan in Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak
on 7 July headlined "One more diplomatic victory"
"Iran and Armenia should expand their cooperation in the world,"
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad said at a joint news conference
with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on 5 July. He also said
that Armenia and Iran have very good relations and this cooperation
must develop. He described Iranian-Armenian relations as "friendly,
stable and developing".
In turn, Robert Kocharyan noted that up till now more than 90
agreements have been signed between
Iran and Armenia, which is a good basis for the further development
of cooperation. He also invited Ahmadinezhad to pay a visit to
Armenia. The Iranian mass media reported that this invitation was
accepted by the Iranian president with great pleasure, which means that
the visit will be paid soon. In general, there was no lack of mutual
understanding during the three days of the Armenian president's visit
to Iran. Seven agreements signed on the spheres of energy, transport,
the economy, culture, sports and tourism strengthen this cooperation.
It is surprising that the Iranian and Armenian media did not say a
single word about the problem of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. It
is no secret that the involvement of a third party, namely Russia,
in the programme on the construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
was to be the main subject of Kocharyan's talks with Ahmadinezhad. It
is also strange that they did not touch on the Karabakh issue
either. Meanwhile, we should note that Kocharyan's visit to Iran dealt
a blow to Armenia's international image, if Armenia still has one,
of course.
The point is that the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier
Solana was supposed to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani
in Brussels. The meeting was very important because Iran's nuclear
programme was planned to be discussed by the USA, Russia, France,
the United Kingdom, China and Germany, and the Iranian party was
planning to reply to suggestions. In other words, the meeting was very
important. Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki told journalists
during the ceremony to welcome Robert Kocharyan that the aforesaid
meeting will not take place. Naturally, everybody noticed this. This
was a "surprise" prepared by the Iranian party for the Armenian
delegation as a sign of century-long warm friendship. Certainly, Mr
Mottaki could not but understand that Armenia would be happier if he
made such a statement in any other place but not standing next to the
Armenian president. And certainly, it is not by chance that the Iranian
foreign minister made it while standing next to Kocharyan. Moreover,
just at the moment when Larijani was to meet Solana in Brussels, he
met Kocharyan in Tehran. Of course, all this deals a blow to Armenia,
but despite that, neither Kocharyan nor any member of his delegation
expressed displeasure in this regard. In general, I doubt that they
understood how irrelevant Mottaki's step was for Armenia.
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
7 Jul 06
Text of report by Anna Akopyan in Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak
on 7 July headlined "One more diplomatic victory"
"Iran and Armenia should expand their cooperation in the world,"
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad said at a joint news conference
with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on 5 July. He also said
that Armenia and Iran have very good relations and this cooperation
must develop. He described Iranian-Armenian relations as "friendly,
stable and developing".
In turn, Robert Kocharyan noted that up till now more than 90
agreements have been signed between
Iran and Armenia, which is a good basis for the further development
of cooperation. He also invited Ahmadinezhad to pay a visit to
Armenia. The Iranian mass media reported that this invitation was
accepted by the Iranian president with great pleasure, which means that
the visit will be paid soon. In general, there was no lack of mutual
understanding during the three days of the Armenian president's visit
to Iran. Seven agreements signed on the spheres of energy, transport,
the economy, culture, sports and tourism strengthen this cooperation.
It is surprising that the Iranian and Armenian media did not say a
single word about the problem of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. It
is no secret that the involvement of a third party, namely Russia,
in the programme on the construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
was to be the main subject of Kocharyan's talks with Ahmadinezhad. It
is also strange that they did not touch on the Karabakh issue
either. Meanwhile, we should note that Kocharyan's visit to Iran dealt
a blow to Armenia's international image, if Armenia still has one,
of course.
The point is that the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier
Solana was supposed to meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani
in Brussels. The meeting was very important because Iran's nuclear
programme was planned to be discussed by the USA, Russia, France,
the United Kingdom, China and Germany, and the Iranian party was
planning to reply to suggestions. In other words, the meeting was very
important. Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki told journalists
during the ceremony to welcome Robert Kocharyan that the aforesaid
meeting will not take place. Naturally, everybody noticed this. This
was a "surprise" prepared by the Iranian party for the Armenian
delegation as a sign of century-long warm friendship. Certainly, Mr
Mottaki could not but understand that Armenia would be happier if he
made such a statement in any other place but not standing next to the
Armenian president. And certainly, it is not by chance that the Iranian
foreign minister made it while standing next to Kocharyan. Moreover,
just at the moment when Larijani was to meet Solana in Brussels, he
met Kocharyan in Tehran. Of course, all this deals a blow to Armenia,
but despite that, neither Kocharyan nor any member of his delegation
expressed displeasure in this regard. In general, I doubt that they
understood how irrelevant Mottaki's step was for Armenia.