IRAN CANCELS VISIT BY ARMENIAN DELEGATION

Radio Free Europe
June 23, 2009

YEREVAN — A visit to Iran by an Armenian parliamentary delegation
scheduled for last weekend was abruptly canceled by the Iranian side
on June 20, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reports, citing parliament
spokesman Nairi Petrosian.

Petrosian said the trip was to have included a meeting with Iran’s
embattled President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and other senior officials.

He declined to speculate about why the trip was canceled or when it
might be rescheduled.

Iran has been rocked in recent days by mass demonstrations against the
alleged falsification of the country’s June 12 presidential election.

Iranians living in Armenia held a rally outside the Iranian Embassy in
Yerevan last week and outside the UN office in the capital on June 22.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, who faced similar allegations and
unrest following his election in February 2008, was among the first
world leaders to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his reelection.