Armenia shares a 26-century history with Iran and has no plans to turn its back on its neighbor—despite Israel’s recent war with the Islamic Republic.
That was the message from Armenian Ambassador to Israel Arman Akopian, who sat down with ILTV News for an exclusive interview on the ILTV News Podcast.
“Iran has always been there on our borders, and we always manage to find some modus operandi,” Akopian said. “Our cooperation with Iran is mostly economic. It's a purely civilian cooperation.”
While Armenia maintains neutrality in regional military conflicts, Akopian made clear his country closely monitored the recent Israel-Iran war due to fears of contamination and instability.
“We could be very heavily afflicted with these consequences of the war,” he said.
Armenia’s diplomatic strategy appears rooted in pragmatism. Akopian noted that Armenia is “the only Christian country on Iran’s border” and draws Iranian tourists “in search of some liberties that are not readily available in Iran.”
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On Israeli-Armenian relations, the ambassador said his country had taken steps forward by establishing a resident embassy in Tel Aviv in 2020. But he criticized the lack of a reciprocal Israeli presence.
“We consider this a big obstacle on the way of expanding our bilateral relations,” Akopian said. “We also believe that that sends a wrong message.”
The ambassador also addressed one of the most sensitive issues in Armenian-Israeli relations: Israel’s refusal to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
“Recognition by Israel would be important,” he said, noting that “close to 80% of the public opinion in Israel is in favor.” However, he stressed that "the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not a precondition for us for good relations.”
Akopian also highlighted the 10,000-strong Armenian community in Israel, the ancient roots of Armenians in Jerusalem, and the growing Jewish community in Armenia.
“There seems to be a revival of Jewish life in Armenia,” he said.
With optimism, the ambassador invited Israelis to “discover Armenia” and deepen what he described as a “relationship between two diasporic nations with shared values.”
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PODCAST 16.07.25
(ILTV)
