VARDAN OSKANIAN APPRECIATES ROLE OF IRANIAN-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN STRENGTHENING IRANIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Aug 10 2007

TEGERAN, AUGUST 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. "The
Iranian-Armenian community plays a great role in strengthening
Armenian-Iranian relations. We hope that the representatives of the
Armenian community will go on with their fruitful activities in the
interest of the welfare and progress of the two countries within the
framework of the newly-created "Iran-Armenia" union," Vardan Oskanian,
the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared in his interview with
the "Huys" ("Hope") newspaper, which is published in Iran once in
two weeks.

According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press
and Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to the practical measures
taken in the direction of implementing projects of mutual importance
in the previous years.

Particularly, he mentioned the fact of the Iranian-Armenian gass
pipeline opening with the participation of Robert Kocharian, the
President of the Republic of Armenia, and Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad,
the President of Iran, on March 19, 2007, as well as the signing
of the agreement on "Cooperation in the sphere of building and
operating hydroelectric power stations on the river Araks between
the RA government and that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Besides
the energy cooperation, the Armenian-Iranian cooperation, no doubt,
covers a wide range of issues, such as the spheres of transport, trade,
agriculture, science, education, and culture. The intergovernmental
commission on coordinating Armenian-Iranian relations has also
promoted productive activities in the direction of strengthening
bilateral relations.

The seventh regular sitting of the above-mentioned commission was
recently held in Yerevan," Vardan Oskanian said.

Touching upon the issue of adoption of dual citizenship by Armenia,
Vardan Oskanian called it an unequivocally positive and praiseworthy
step as the Armenians spread all over the world thus gain an
opportunity to be always connected with their homeland.

"At the same time, in this new stage of the independence of Armenia,
the latter should make use of the flexibility, which makes part of its
national peculiarities, in order to find and create new resources for
preserving its positions. Part of these new resources will come from
Armenia, and the rest from the Diaspora," the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia mentioned.