Iran’s president arrives in Armenia on official visit

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday arrived in Armenia on an official visit, according to local media reports.

The Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported that Pezeshkian arrived in the country’s capital Yerevan, where he was greeted by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.

An Armenia-Iran business forum will be held in Yerevan on Tuesday, as part of Pezeshkian’s visit, according to the Armenian Economy Ministry's announcement last week.

The report added that the Iranian president’s visit would take place on Aug. 18-21.

On Sunday, Pezeshkian’s political advisor Mehdi Sanaei said through the US social media company X that the Iranian president would embark on a two-day visit to Armenia and Belarus starting on Monday.

“Strengthening relations between the two countries, especially in the field of trade, and the signing of documents are among the goals of the trip,” Sanaei said, noting that the two trips were initially scheduled to take place early last month but were postponed.

The visit comes as Azerbaijan and Armenia initialed a peace deal brokered by the US on Aug. 8, aiming to end decades of conflict between the two Southern Caucasus neighbors following a trilateral summit in Washington, DC.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a series of cross-border wars since the late 1980s, including most recently in 2023, when Baku liberated its territory of Karabakh.