The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
August 18, 2022
URL: https://mirrorspectator.com/2022/08/18/iran-appoints-consul-in-southern-armenian-town/
By Naira Nalbandian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Iran has appointed a consul general to the town of Kapan in southern Armenia, the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Yerevan told Armenpress news agency.
Armenian news website News.am, quoting Robert Beglaryan, an ethnic Armenian lawmaker in Iran’s parliament, reported on August 11 that the appointed consul general, Abedin Varamin, had already taken office and held meetings with officials in Yerevan.
Tehran made the decision to open a consulate general in Kapan, a strategic town in Armenia’s Syunik province bordering Iran, last December. Officially, the consulate is likely to open later this year.
Shirak Torosian, a pro-government lawmaker who is a member of the Armenia-Iran friendship group in the Armenian parliament, described the decision as “another clear message about Tehran’s red lines in the region.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reassured Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an August 11 phone call about his country’s opposition to any attempt to alter borders in the region.