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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei hosted Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his entourage late on Wednesday, IRNA reports.

During the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei described Iran and Armenia as good neighbors, enjoying historical relations and stressed on the necessity to increase levels of economic cooperation. His Eminence then added, “Contrary to what the US desires, the ties between Iran and Armenia should be strong, persistent and friendly.”

The leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the very friendly relations that exist between Iranians with their Armenian fellow citizens as well as the Iranian Armenian communities' sacrifices during the Sacred Defense era – the 8-year US-backed Saddam war on Iran – and asserted, “I have paid visits to the families of Iranian Armenian martyrs in Tehran, because we consider the Armenian martyrs of the imposed war as sources of pride and honor for Iran, just like the Muslim martyrs.”

The supreme leader regarded increased cooperation and friendly relations as a duty to be conducted in favor of common interests of Iran and Armenia, adding that “of course, the US is completely unreliable and always tries to cause sedition, corruption, conflict and war; they are against the relations between Iran and Armenia and they oppose the interests of the nations. However, in response, we need to strengthen our relations and cooperation.”

Highlighting the friendly relations of Iran and Armenia throughout history, Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say that Iran and Armenia have never had any problems with each other.

“According to our Islamic teachings, we deem ourselves obliged to behave well toward our neighboring countries; even though the US officials, such as John Bolton, have no understanding of such matters or of human relations,” he said.

Khamenei mentioned that the level of economic cooperation between Iran and Armenia is much lower than the potentials the two nations possess and held: The agreements and ratifications concluded during this trip should be vigorously pursued.

The religious leader also held that the resolving of the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) lies in the continuation of negotiations between the officials of Azerbaijan and Armenia; he further announced the willingness of Iran to offer assistance in resolving the matter.