Envoy: Armenia Willing to Develop Bilateral Ties with Iran

Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Artashes Tumanyan voiced his country’s willingness to expand mutual cooperation with Iran in different fields, specially in trade and economic fields.

“The Armenian and Iranian nations have age-old relations, and we are eager to broaden bilateral ties with Iran in different economic and trade fields,” Tumanyan said in a meeting with Head of Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission Elias Hazrati in Tehran on Sunday.

He hailed Iran for its efforts to maintain balanced relations with Armenia.

Hazrati, for his Part, called for boosting mutual economic and trade cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan.

“Both sides enjoy a historic as well as cultural commonality based on mutual respect,” the Iranian lawmaker said.

He blasted the US for imposing unilateral sanctions against Iran, and said, “It is a golden opportunity for neighboring states such as Armenia to invest in various areas in the country.

In relevant remarks last month, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi in a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Hakob Arshakyan in Yerevan vowed to further develop bilateral relations.

During a meeting in the Armenian capital on October 8, Azari Jahromi underlined the need to accelerate the implementation of an agreement for building special park for IT companies and startups in Armenia.

Referring to a recent visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Armenia, the Iranian minister announced that President Rouhani has ordered to double the volume of cooperation between the two countries.

“Iran and Armenia can cooperate in the field of data transmission, support of start-ups as well as supply of skilled labor forces (outsourcing) with each other,” Azari Jahromi said.

Arshakyan, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Azari Jahromi for his visit to Yerevan, and noted during his visit to the 2019 Digitech Exhibition he paid a visit to the Iranian Pavilion and got acquainted with the Iranian start-ups present at the exhibition.

He underlined that Iran is an important partner for Armenia in the field of communications, and said that "Moghri" Free Zone near Iranian borders (Aras Free Zone) can be used as a suitable space for cooperation with Iran and creation of special park for Iranian companies.