2 minute read
Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ararat Mirzoyan said that comments about Iran’s concerns over TRIPP in some Armenian media outlets are significantly exaggerated.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mirzoyan was asked whether he had managed to dispel the Iranian side’s concerns about the TRIPP project during his recent visit to Iran.
“The comments, the spin with which Iran’s concerns over TRIPP are presented in some Armenian media outlets are, if I may not go so far as to say they are significantly detached from reality, significantly exaggerated. The Iranian side has questions, and those questions have been answered. My impression is that the Iranian side is satisfied with this process. For example, the Iranian side asks whether there will be an American military presence along TRIPP. There will not be. People ask, and we tell them there will not be. The documents attest to this, and reality attests to this. In other words, it is normal for them to have this question, and we give them the correct answer. They then say, well, if there will not be one, they too will be able to use that railway network, won’t they? It is a textbook truth that the armed presence of a third party in the relationship between two other parties will only complicate the lives of those two parties. People had questions, and answers have been provided to those questions on a regular basis. It is not as though I went this time and was asked this question, because it was raised a year ago and clarified. I went, and they told me, ‘If that is the case, then fine...’” the Armenian foreign minister elaborated.