President Khatami of Iran has arrived in Yerevan for an official state visit, and his trip is being quite widely reported.

IRNA, the Iranian state new agency has reported on the usual official pleasantries and also on Khatami’s warm remarks on Armenians great impact on human civilizations.

Speaking to reporters, he referred to Iran`s glorious
civilization of the past eras and the Armenians` pivotal role in its
development and said that even today the Iranian Armenians keep on
attempting towards Iran`s independence and progress along with
their Muslim compatriots.

Armenia is known to be under pressure from the US to limit its contacts with Armenia, but has little choice but to embrace its southern neighbour for economic reasons. As an article in Baku Today points out, Iran is widely regarded in Armenia as a vital geopolitical partner and having close ties with the Islamic Republic is among few subjects of consensus in the Armenian political arena. The Armenian opposition underlined this fact when deputies representing it briefly suspended their boycott of parliament sessions to hear Khatami’s speech.