Theme: Armenia

Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov said the Collective Security Council may consider invoking Article 25 of the organization’s charter against Armenia if a corresponding agenda is approved. The article provides that, if a member state fails to fulfill its obligations to repay its debt to the organization’s budget within two years, the Council shall adopt a resolution on retaining the right to propose that state’s citizens for quota positions and on depriving it of voting rights in the organization’s bodies until full repayment.

Armenia's National Security Service detained Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the opposition Strong Armenia bloc, after searches at his homes, according to TASS. Armenia's Investigative Committee confirmed searches at 65 addresses, including properties linked to his nephew Narek Karapetyan, head of the bloc's parliamentary group. The detention is part of a criminal investigation into abuse of authority at his businesses that allegedly caused losses of around $179 million to Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), according to the committee.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in Armenia that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and described the destructive propaganda against the country as lies, according to Middle East Eye. “We have always been ready to talk; they think they can make us surrender, but we will not give in to force,” he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, according to Mehr News — Pezeshkian arrived in Armenia to take part in the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).

Construction of the TRIPP corridor has yet to start, leaving the broader Middle Corridor project incomplete, according to Eurasianet, in a text published by OilPrice. The approximately 40-kilometer route would be the shortest segment of the Middle Corridor and, according to the text, would offer Armenia and Azerbaijan an opportunity to strengthen their integration into the corridor, which connects Central Asia with Europe via the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus and Turkey.

The government of Nikol Pashinyan suspended a nuclear cooperation deal with the US and committed to having Rosatom build Armenia’s next-generation reactor, according to Eurasianet, in a text published by OilPrice. According to Eurasianet, a Rosatom contract would complicate TRIPP, the US-backed transit route at the center of Armenia’s peace process with Azerbaijan, which both Russia and Iran oppose.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said continued dialogue and cooperation with neighbours is Iran’s chosen path toward a safer and more stable region, according to Mehr News. The two sides reviewed relations between Tehran and Yerevan and ways to deepen cooperation in economy, trade, transport and energy, according to Mehr News. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman received Germany’s new envoy in Tehran on Tuesday and described the conversation as frank and useful, according to Mehr News.