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Iran pursues its own interests in Nakhichevan, which sometimes converge with Armenian’s interests in the autonomous republic, an expert in Iran, Vardan Voskanyan told a news conference on Tuesday.

He says the region plays a key role for Iran, which has ‘almost unlimited’ presence in Nakhichevan. “In fact, it [Iran’s presence] even exceeds the Turkish presence both in ideological and economic terms,” he said.

“Let’s think for a moment Iran cuts off the continental Azerbaijani link with Nakhichevan and suspends gas supplies to the region; it will end up in a critical situation,” he stressed.

According to him, Armenia can benefit from the opening of the region for Iranian transit. “For instance, Iranians say Nakhichevan’s territory should be open for Iranian transit. I think it is also beneficial to Armenia, since after its opening Armenia will function as a transit country without the creation of additional infrastructures. A different issue is how realistic this is,” he said.

He also stressed the need for Armenia to pursue a separate policy towards Nakhichevan, leaving it out of the so-called anti-Azerbaijani positions.

Voskanyan says Iran will continue to preserve relations with Azerbaijan. “Iranians have worked and will continue working with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is a different matter that Armenia is considered a reliable partner and a friendly state for Iran, unlike Azerbaijan.”