Journal of Turkish Weekly
July 8 2006

New Allies?: Iran-Armenia ink 7 Aggrements Print

Saturday , 08 July 2006

* Armenia and Iran close each other. Both states signed many
aggrements last week. Iran is the only neigbouring country that
Armenia has good relations. Ironically Armenia seeks to develop its
relations with the US as well."

* Within Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s official visit to
Iran, the two countries signed 7 documents.

* The sides also signed documents on funding construction of power
mains between Iran and Armenia

TEHRAN – Iranian and Armenian officials signed up seven Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) in the fields of energy, economic and industrial
infrastructures, legal and cultural heritage cooperation, Iranian
news agency IRNA reported.

The MoUs were signed by officials in the presence of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian.

For one document, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his
Armenian counterpart Vartan Oskanian signed an MoU concerning Iran’s
development aids in the field of industrial and economic
infrastructure for Armenia.

In another MoU, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah and Armen Movsisyan
signed a cooperation agreement in the field of energy.

The two countries agreed in another document to cooperate in the
field of legal issues.

Iran’s Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-rad and Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian inked an agreement about extraditing
criminals.

Dissemination of information in the field of cultural heritage was
another MoU signed up by officials from Iran’s Cultural Heritage
Organization and Armenian Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs.

Also agreement about financing electricity power line project was
signed.

In the last MoU, the two countries agreed on the implementing program
of the third electricity power line between Iran and Armenia.

Armenia is located in the Caucasus region and borders with Georgia in
the north, Azerbaijan east, Turkey west and Iran south and it does
not have access to the open sea.

Armenia does not have any oil or gas resources, but has rich mines of
gold, copper, zinc and lead.

The country achieved its independence on September 21, 1991 from the
former Soviet Union. Armenian forces occupied about 20 percent of
neigbouring Azerbaijan. Ironically ‘Islamic’ Iran did not support
Azerbaijan but ‘Christian’ Armenia. Iran has currently good relations
with Armenia though the relations with Azerbijan is not at the level
of as expected. Armenia has serious problems with Azerbaijan, Georgia
and Turkey.

JTW and News agencies
8 July 2006