Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to the possibility of escalation of Iran-Azerbaijan relations and military conflict in an interview with Public Television, noted that Iran and Azerbaijan are friendly countries connected by deep cultural and economic ties.
“If there is an issue, a debate, there are those in the relations of many countries, let's not fall into exaggerations,” said the Prime Minister.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, Iran is a very important player in international and regional affairs.
“This is the reason why we are in very close communication with our partners in Iran, it is very important for me that our partners in Iran receive information from us about our thoughts, concerns, and our understanding of how to address them, as well as our other partners. Iran is an important player, the normal development of our relations is also important for us, and we are going that way,” he said.
Armenia’s Prime Minister informed that Armenia intends not only to extend the gas contract with Iran, but also to increase the gas supply.
“We take gas from Iran, we produce electricity with that gas, we return the electricity to Iran, of course, with certain coefficients to make it profitable. Now, in practice, the power lines that exist between Armenia and Iran are completely overloaded. In order for us to consume more gas to produce electricity, we need to have the opportunity to export more to Iran, and we will get that opportunity after the construction of the third power line is completed. When it is finished, of course, we will be ready to take more gas in order to supply more electricity to Iran,” said the Prime Minister.
Nikol Pashinyan also assured that there is no contradiction with the Russian Federation in this issue. The electricity-for-gas system exists for a long time.