Iranian Ambassador in Yerevan Denies Secret Arms Deal with Armenia

YEREVAN — The Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani, has denied the report by London-based news channel Iran International t on Friday, saying that it is aimed at undermining the Islamic Republic’s relations with regional countries. In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Sobhani said the Persian-language media outlet is notorious for disseminating “untrue information and one-sided analyses about Iran.”

Iran International is believed to have links to the government of Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional rival. In November 2022, Iranian authorities accused the channel of inciting antigovernment riots and designated it as a “terrorist organization.”

Sobhani said the news has been disseminated by “unreliable media, which have previously spread false information and malicious analyzes about the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

He emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran supports the establishment of peace and stability in the Caucasus region, as well as economic development.

On Monday the Armenian Defense Ministry labeled the rumors claiming that Armenia has signed a $500 million arms deal with Iran as “imaginary, invented content.”

Despite having long maintained a cordial relationship, Iran and Armenia have never reported any bilateral arms deals.

Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian visited Tehran in March this year. The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said at the time that Papikian and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Reza Ashtiani reached “a number of understandings on issues of mutual interest” during their talks. It did not disclose them.

Iran has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of the common border and transport links with Armenia, in response to Azerbaijan’s demands for an extraterritorial corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave that would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering the Islamic Republic. Sobhani stressed earlier this month that this remains a “red line” for Tehran.