SARKISIAN STARTS IRAN VISIT

3_4/13/2009_1
Monday, April 13, 2009

TEHRAN (RFE/RL)–President Serzh Sarkisian arrived in Tehran Monday
on an official visit which he hopes will cement Armenia’s already
close political and economic ties with Iran.

Reports from Tehran said Sarkisian went straight into talks with his
Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was also scheduled to
meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, parliament speaker Ali
Larijani and the head of Iran’s National Security Council, Saeed
Jalili, during the two-day trip.

Sarkisian was accompanied by a high-ranking Armenian delegation
comprising the governor of the Central Bank of Armenia, Artur Javadian,
and five government ministers. One of them, Energy Minister Armen
Movsisian, flew to Tehran ahead of the president’s visit.

Sarkisian’s talks with Ahmadinejad, which began in the one-on-one
format, were due to be followed by the signing of more Armenian-Iranian
agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral relations. The most
important of them calls for the construction of a 470-kilometer
railway connecting the two neighboring countries. It was finalized
by the Armenian and Iranian transport ministers in Yerevan last week.

The ministers said that work on the railway will take at least
three years and cost up to $1.2 billion. The two governments hope to
attract funding for the ambitious project from third countries and
international lending institutions.

The project was high on the agenda of Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki’s March 13 visit to Yerevan.

Mottaki said Armenia and Iran share "common interests" in the region
and should therefore deepen their ties.

The Armenian and Iranian ministers of transport signed a preliminary
"memorandum of understanding" in Yerevan on March 13 formalizing plans
to construct a railway that would connect the two neighboring countries
and significantly boost economic cooperation between them. The final
version of the document will be signed by the Armenian President
during his trip.