Dozens of them have staged such demonstrations on a virtually daily basis this month to condemn the deadly suppression of the protests sparked by spiraling inflation and a free fall of the Iranian currency. Some of them have openly called for the overthrow of the Iranian regime and restoration of monarchy in their country.
On January 14, the Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Khalil Shirgholami, criticized the Armenian authorities in unusually strong terms for allowing the gatherings. Shirgholami said there is a growing sense within the Iranian leadership that “Armenia is becoming a serious center for the actions of forces hostile to Iran.” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian promised to address Tehran’s concerns the next day.
“We will closely monitor [the situation,] including concerns related to the situation, and … take all measures so that no problems arise with the activities of friendly Iran’s embassy,” Pashinian told a news conference.
Although the demonstrations continued in the following days, Yerevan’s municipal administration banned the Iranian expats at the last minute from marching on January 17 from the embassy building to the city center. Citing an Interior Ministry recommendation, it claimed that the march would disrupt traffic. Also, riot police detained several protesters outside the Iranian mission.
A number of Iranians, who did not want to be identified, told RFE/RL’s Armenian afterwards that they were summoned to the NSS and told not to participate in such gathering. Some of them claimed to have been threatened with arrest and deportation from Armenia.
“We don’t break any laws but they summon us here and there,” complained one young man. “I told them, ‘Our actions are not illegal, yours are.’’
The NSS essentially confirmed the summonses in a written statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. It said its “survey work was carried out in the context of counterintelligence and crime-fighting functions given to the service by law.” It did not elaborate.
Shirgholami slammed Yerevan just hours after Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington. The meeting focused on the Armenian government’s controversial plans to open a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan which would run along Armenia’s strategically important border with Iran. The Iranian envoy reiterated Tehran’s serious concerns over what will be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Pashinian said he will continue to “take into account” these concerns as well. Armenian leaders have repeatedly assured their Iranian counterparts that “Armenia will not take steps against Iran's state security,” he said.