The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not immediately disclose the grounds for the detentions.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Arsen Ghukasian, a relative of a soldier missing in action from the 2020 Karabakh war, identified the detained individuals as activist Mikael Markarian and Arsen Vardanian, a member of the little-known Pan-Armenian Front party.
The incident occurred on a street adjacent to the parliament building and involved an exchange of insults between the parties.
Relatives of soldiers missing from the 2020 war have been gathering outside the National Assembly for several days, calling on lawmakers to publish a report with findings on the conflict. The report was prepared in 2025 by an ad hoc parliamentary committee. However, the committee’s head, Andranik Kocharian, said its public release was blocked by Simonian.
Video from a live broadcast on Markarian’s Facebook page indicates that the altercation began after Simonian declined to speak with the activist. Footage shows both sides using offensive language, with each accusing the other of initiating the verbal abuse.
In a video posted on social media later on Thursday, Simonian described what happened in the street as “a series of provocations.”
Noting that the incident occurred near a gathering of families of missing soldiers, the parliament speaker described it as “regrettable” and “disgusting,” saying that “some people attempt to exploit the tragedy of these individuals for political purposes to boost their live broadcasts and ratings through such provocations.”
“This provocation will not succeed,” Simonian added.
The confrontation is the latest in a series of public incidents involving Simonian, a senior member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
In 2023, Simonian ordered his bodyguards to overpower a heckler at a popular dining area in central Yerevan before spitting in his face after the man branded him a “traitor.” In 2024, Simonian again directed his bodyguards to intervene against a woman from Nagorno-Karabakh who confronted him at a military cemetery in Yerevan, calling her a “garbage cat.”
In November 2025, Armenia’s National Security Service arrested two opposition activists and podcasters after Simonian accused them of verbally abusing him during a podcast. The two were charged with hooliganism but denied the accusations, saying they were responding to offensive language used by Simonian.