L’Iran saboterà la pace nel Caucaso meridionale attraverso la Chiesa armena? | Opinione

>A week before the start of the border villagers’ march, Ehsan Movahedian, the head of the International Relations Office in the Tehran International Studies and Research Institute and one of Iran’s foremost experts on the Caucasus region, called on Iran to “synergize” with the Armenian church to achieve its foreign policy goals, much like it does in Azerbaijan with the Iran-backed proxy group, Husseiniyyun, known as the “Hezbollah of the Caucasus.” Movahedian called the Armenian church and Husseiniyyun “two wings” of Iranian influence in the region.

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>Some church dissidents have even claimed that the head of the Armenian church, Karekin II, was chosen in 1999 under pressure from Russian intelligence. Two years ago, Putin awarded Karekin II with the Order of Honor for his contribution to Russo-Armenian relations. Karekin II has called Russia the “second homeland” of Armenians.

>Indeed, Russia is also likely involved in the current unrest.

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>More recently, the church seems more open to cooperation with the Islamic Republic. Earlier this month, the Head of Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, Mohammad-Mehdi Imanipour, met with Karekin II to discuss improving relations between the two nations. In the past year, Karekin II has also met with the Iranian ambassador and even called the late-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after an earthquake struck northwest Iran.

>Such access for a regional religious leader is unprecedented. There is no documentation of either Grand Mufti of the Caucasus Allahshukur Pashazadeh or Patriarch Ilya II of Georgia meeting with Iranian ambassadors or calling Raisi.

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>If Iran and Russia succeed in using the Armenian church to overthrow the Pashinyan administration, the consequences would be devastating for the region. It would end the chances of a stable trade route through the Middle Corridor and would make the two nations more dependent on Russia and Iran. Armenia would be plunged back into pre-revolution times—mired by rampant corruption, lawlessness, and a complete lack of independence.

Very interesting also in regards to the potential role of Armenia in the Middle Corridor about which we heard just recently. And many were surprised why was Armenia mentioned in that project when currently it’s not a part of it. We’ll some more on that:

>A peace deal would boost both Yerevan and Baku’s independence and could lead to the establishment of a trade route through the so-called Middle Corridor. Such a route would connect China to Europe while bypassing both Moscow and Tehran.

>Currently, the only Middle Corridor route used for trade passes through Georgia, traversing the country’s East-West highway. This road is just a mere kilometer from the Russian-backed separatist state of South Ossetia, which has in the past moved the border fence further and further into Georgian territory. Moreover, Georgia’s current government has become increasingly close to Moscow and is near passing a similar law used by Russia to stifle media freedom and endanger the nation’s European Union membership trajectory. Setting up a corridor seeking to bypass Russia through a Russian vassal is pointless.

u/Idontknowmuch you called it right from the beginning.