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Indeed, Iran is against the arrival of peacekeepers in the region, be it Russians or others, said expert on Iran, Vardan Voskanyan.

“The appearance of any third party for Iranians is against their interests. They will use all the opportunities and leverage they’ve got to hinder the process,” said the expert during “The latest developments in Karabakh conflict settlement” discussion at The Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs.

According to Voskanyan, Iran considers the presence of any foreign force near the northern border of Iran is a serious threat to Iranian security.

Voskanyan blames the situation on Armenians, especially the lack of appropriate mechanisms to strengthen the country.

“Obviously, Azerbaijan is ahead of us in three areas in Iran. Indeed, Iran’s leadership has a positive attitude toward Armenia, referring to first-level decisions. Yet we know that in imperialist countries such decisions can be sabotaged in lower levels. The Azerbaijani lobbyists have succeeded in those levels. This refers to the anti-Armenian and pro-Azerbaijani forces in Atropatene. Now they are operating against Armenians allegedly for Iran’s interests, which enables them to avoid the pressure of the authorities”.

Next shortcoming concerns the Iranian clergy.

“Any statement made by even local clergyman can have significant impact on the population. Along with positive, we’ve also witnessed anti-Armenian statements. We shouldn’t leave this on Echmiadzin, as clergymen in Iran can also make political decisions,” Voskanyan said.

According to him, the third shortcoming is the presence of Azerbaijani politicians in the Parliament of Iran.
“Indeed, Iran is a friendly country, yet as a regional superpower consists of many layers. If we don’t pay attention to these gaps, we’ll be facing serious problems,” concluded Voskanyan.