October 23, 2007


Iranian President Cuts Short Visit to Armenia

AFP reports that the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cut short a two-day working visit to Armenia. Ahmadinejad visited Yerevan to meet with his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, and to announce the opening of a new highway linking the two countries and plans to build a cross-border railroad as well as a hydroelectric power plant and wind power stations along the border.

No reasons for his unexpected and early return to Tehran have so far been given, but I’m sure there will be updates later on in the day.

Ahmadinejad cancelled a series of events on Tuesday and was due to leave the Armenian capital Yerevan for Tehran on a late-morning flight, an official in Armenian presidential press service said, without providing an explanation.

“There have been changes in the programme of the Iranian president’s visit. He will return to Tehran before the planned time,” the official said.

Ahmadinejad had been due Tuesday to visit a memorial to victims of the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, a regular stop for visiting dignitaries. He had also been scheduled to visit Yerevan’s Blue Mosque and to meet with members of the Iranian community here.

[…]

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that more than 180 Iranian MPs have signed a letter in support of Ali Larijani, Iran’s Chief Nuclear Negotiator, who resigned from his post on Sunday. No doubt Ahmadinejad’s return to Tehran is connected to that or something nuclear-related, but we’ll know for sure later.

Incidentally, The Armenian Observer covers Ahmadinejad’s visit in more detail. And talking of Iran, Unzipped: Gay Armenia also posted something on Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to the United States last month. I just hope that second photograph isn’t for real. Really.

Posted by Onnik @ 1:26 pm. Filed under: Armenia, Politics, Economy, Caucasus, Transport, Iran




10 Comments »

The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/10/23/iranian-president-cuts-short-visit-to-armenia/trackback/

  1. Ahmadinejad Cuts 2-Day Visit to Armenia Short

    YEREVAN, Armenia — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut short his two-day visit to Armenia on Tuesday, an Armenian presidential spokesman said.

    The Armenian government had expected Ahmadinejad to address parliament and, in what was likely to cause controversy, plant a sapling at a memorial commemorating the victims of what Armenians consider genocide.

    Viktor Sogomonian, press secretary of Armenian President Robert Kocharian, gave no reason for the Iranian president’s decision to skip both planned events and return to Iran.

    Russia’s ITAR-Tass news agency, citing an unnamed source, said the decision was connected with unexpected developments in Iran.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304248,00.html

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 2:28 pm

  2. Ahmadinejad quits Armenia trip over ’situation’ at home: source

    YEREVAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday cut short a two-day visit to Armenia due to the domestic political situation and key talks on the Iranian nuclear issue in Rome, a diplomatic source here told AFP.
    (Advertisement)

    “He shortened his visit and is returning to Iran because of the internal political situation in the country,” the source said. “Also this is linked with the discussion of the question of Iran which is happening today in Rome.”

    “Today we are expecting strong criticism addressed to Iran.”

    […]

    The Armenian presidential administration had previously announced that Ahmadinejad would on Tuesday visit a memorial to victims of the Ottoman massacres of Armenians between 1915 and 1917, a regular stop for visiting dignitaries.

    He had also been scheduled to visit Yerevan’s Blue Mosque and to meet with members of the Iranian community here.

    Armenian presidential spokesman Viktor Sogomonian said Ahmadinejad had returned to Tehran “for urgent reasons” but did not elaborate.

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071023/twl-armenia-iran-diplomacy-3cd7efd_3.html

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 5:10 pm

  3. Iran president denies travel plan change amid nuclear talks

    TEHRAN (Thomson Financial) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied having cut short a visit to Armenia amid negotiations in Rome on Iran’s nuclear programme, on his return home from Yerevan today.

    ‘The trip to Armenia took longer than what was scheduled before,’ Ahmadinejad said quoted by the state news agency IRNA, contradicting reports from Armenia.

    ‘This trip was due to last 22 hours but because of some visits, it became one hour and half longer than the schedule,’ he said at Tehran airport, adding that the two neighbouring states were determined to boost ties and cooperation.

    A diplomatic source in Yerevan told Agence France-Presse earlier that Ahmadinejad had cut short a two-day visit to Armenia due to the domestic political situation and the key talks on the Iranian nuclear issue in Rome.

    […]

    During meetings yesterday both presidents agreed that the president of Iran would go back to Iran earlier than expected for urgent reasons. The early end of the visit won’t affect Armenian-Iranian relations,’ Sogomonian said.

    But Ahmadinejad’s senior advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi also denied the visit had been cut short, saying ‘the Iranian delegation is returning to Tehran at the planned time.’

    ‘All of the Iranian president’s programme was realised as planned during the visit to Armenia,’ he said.

    http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/232007149839.htm

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 6:12 pm

  4. Ahmadinejad interrupted visit to Armenia and returned to Tehran
    23.10.2007 12:24 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad interrupted his formal visit to Armenia and returned to Tehran. Informal sources said the schedule was changed over unforeseeable consequences in Iran.

    October 23, Mr Ahmadinejad was expected to attend the Memorial Complex to Armenian Genocide victims and Blue Mosque in Yerevan. He was also scheduled to address the RA National Assembly.

    “Today’s program was cancelled and the Iranian leader is departing for Tehran,” the RA President’s press office reported.

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 6:36 pm

  5. 2007-10-23 14:39:00
    Speaker of the Armenian parliament about the reason of early departure of the Iranian president

    Speaker of the Armenian parliament about the reason of early departure of the Iranian presidentArmInfo. Speaker of the Armenian parliament Tigran Torosyan explained the reason of early departure of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from Yerevan.

    ‘In such situations there is the necessity for the president of a country to return to his native land’, - Tigran Torosyan told journalists not explaining what situation made Iranian president to break his visit.

    […]

    2007-10-23 14:37:00
    Internal political situation in Iran became reason of sudden interrupted visit of Iranian president to Armenia

    ArmInfo. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut short a two-day visit to Armenia today due to the “internal political situation” and talks on the Iranian nuclear issue expected in Rome, a diplomatic source in Armenia told AFP. “He shortened his visit and is returning to Iran because of the internal political situation in the country,” the source said. “Also this is linked with the discussion of the question of Iran which is happening today in Rome”, the source reported.

    To note, the president of Iran failed to attend the Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims because of the interrupted visit. His meeting with RA parliamentarians was also scheduled at noon.

    2007-10-23 14:33:00
    Iranian President cutting visit to Armenia short will not affect Armenian-Iranian relations: Armenian Presidential Spokesman

    ArmInfo. Presidents of Armenia and Iran, Robert Kocharyan and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, agreed on October 22 evening to cut short the official visit of the Iranian president to Armenia, Armenian Presidential Spokesman Viktor Soghomonyan told ArmInfo.

    ‘Iranian President had pressing reasons to return to his country,’ V. Soghomonyan said. He also added that the broken-off visit of the Iranian president will not affect the Armenian-Iranian relations. ‘

    ‘Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have discussed the issues on agenda of the Armenian-Iranian negotiations,’ he said for conclusion. To recall, the guest was to visit Armenian Genocide Memorial on October 23 in the morning and the Parliament in the afternoon.

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 6:44 pm

  6. Unfortunately, second photo is for real, Onnik. The news on hanging of two teenage boys because of their sexuality outraged human rights activists two years ago, and in general, received widespread condemnation and media coverage. It became a kind of textbook case to depict the extremes of State level homophobia. There are reports of similar cases before and after too.

    Comment by artmika — October 23, 2007 @ 7:49 pm

  7. AHMADINEJAN STAYED LONGER

    A1 Plus, 23 October, 2007

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talked to reporters at Mehrabad International Airport upon return from his two-day official visit to Armenia.

    According to “Irna “ agency, he said his trip to Armenia took longer than scheduled, adding that his visit was supposed to last for 22 hours but due to some meetings it was prolonged by 1.5 hours.

    It is interesting that Ahmadinejad left Yerevan without visiting Tsitsernakaberd and without making a speech at the RA NA, as was foreseen.

    It is worthwhile to remind that Iran’s President arrived in Armenia on Monday and according to the preliminary disseminated information he was to leave today in the noon, not in the morning.

    Comment by Onnik — October 23, 2007 @ 9:01 pm

  8. No doubt Ahmadinejad left because he didn’t want to visit Tsitsernakaberd. Let’s not forget that Ahmadinejad is Azeri Turk by ethnicity.

    Comment by dude — October 24, 2007 @ 11:19 pm

  9. And you know that how, dude? Your crystal ball?

    Ahmadinejad also did not visit the mosque; are we to conclude from that that he is secretly a Christian and hates Muslims?

    As it is, Ahmadinejad’s track-record is that he is for the expansions of Iranian-Armenian ties “in all areas.” That’s a quote from a newspaper article. You know what “all areas” means, don’t you? It means military.

    Your Ahmadinejad the Azeri agent conspiracy theory is uniquely the product of you imagination.

    Comment by Armen Filadelfiatsi — October 25, 2007 @ 12:27 am

  10. It’s also worth noting that 1) Putin’s recent visit to Tehran is yet another reason for the strengthening of Armenian-Iranian ties and 2) it is highly likely that a ground invasion of Iran, which will happen after Iran retaliates the planned bombardment, will take place through Azerbaijan to Tabriz, a major industrial center.

    The US has been stirring up Azeri secessionist ambitions in Azerbaijani Iran for years now. No doubt part of the money that has been given to the opium-addicted royalist freaks with polished fingernails who spam their bad taste and paternal dribble via satellite to Iran, part of that money has gone to the secessionist Azeris, just like it has gone to the Kurds in the NW, the Arabs in the South, and Sunni Baluchi al-Qaeda sympathizers in the SE, called the Jundallah.

    The number of reasons Iran has to be friendly toward Azerbaijan is = {null set}.
    I’m about 90% sure that Iran is going to get invaded and Azerbaijan is going to play a key role in this invasion. The problem that Iranian leaders have is that they are sure that the US, under the Bush administration, i.e. under Emperor Cheney, is still a so-called “rational actor” and wouldn’t do things like, oh, I don’t know, stick its collective hand in the proverbial garbage-disposal. They have no idea… Cheney is a madman, and mad Emperor’s are good for nobody, least of all resource-poor, landlocked countries with genocidal neighbors on both sides who are allied with the mad Emperor.

    Comment by Armen Filadelfiatsi — October 25, 2007 @ 1:23 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Comments are currently moderated. If your comment does not appear immediately, there is no need to submit it again.

Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>


         

 




banner

Get free blog up and running in minutes with Blogsome | Theme designs available here

The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of any publication or organization that he may be working for now, in the past or in the future.