Hassan Rouhani in Yerevan: Iran as a stabilizing factor in the South Caucasus

21.12.2016
Armenia
Iran

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has arrived in Yerevan in an official visit at the invitation of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

Business relationships

During the meeting, two leaders are planning to discuss a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation. First of all they will focus on business activity. In particular, Serzh Sargsyan and Hassan Rouhani will take part in the Armenian-Iranian business forum. In addition, the Armenian side believes that Armenia could become a bridge for the Iranian businessmen in the EAEU, the EU and the US. The prerequisite for the development of economic relations with Iran is also the creation of a free economic zone in Meghri, the construction of common energy network in the region, as well as a strategic “North-South” corridor .

Azerbaijan’s discontent

The warm relations between Yerevan and Tehran have traditionally caused Baku’s discontent. A number of Azerbaijani political scientists and thinkers believe that Shiite Iran must not have such close contact with the government and the people participating in the Karabakh conflict against Azerbaijanis, who confess the same branch of Islam.

The historical factor

However, historians say that the close relations between Iran and Armenia may be caused by the fact that the Persian shahs traditionally used Armenians against the Ottoman Empire. The conflict between two identities of Azerbaijan is in this issue: Turk, which connecting the country with Turkey and Shia, linking it to Iran.

But it is here and there is a conflict between the two: there is a theory that because of this contradiction, tension grows in the majority of nodes in the Caucasus.

It is also important to understand that in a multipolar world, Iran can act as a stabilizing factor in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, as it has good relations with both Baku and Yerevan.

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Iran
Armenia
geopolitics
Hassan Rouhani