In a statement, the embassy said that during a meeting with Iranian Ambassador Khalil Shirgholami, Garegin “expressed his condolences and support to the government and people of Iran” and prayed for God to grant Khamenei “the highest abode in the kingdom of heaven.” He also expressed hope that Iranians will “rediscover the safe and normal course of their life” under the leadership of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba.
The Armenian Church’s Mother See in Echmiadzin did not issue a readout of the meeting as of Tuesday evening.
Khamenei was killed by U.S. and Israeli forces at the start of their air strikes against Iran on February 28. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian was among foreign leaders who attended on July 3 the start of his weeklong funeral. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian thanked Pashinian last week for his presence in an Armenian-language post on X.
“We will never forget this gesture of goodwill,” Pezeshkian wrote, adding that Ali Khamenei always stood for close ties with Armenia and regarded it as an “honest neighbor.”
In the months leading up to the war, Iranian officials, notably Khamenei’s top foreign policy aide, voiced serious concern at the Armenian government’s plans to open a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan that would run along the Armenian-Iranian border. Iran fears that the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) could lead to U.S. security presence there.
Shirgholami indicated on July 8 that the Armenian government has still not addressed Tehran’s “very legitimate and logical” concerns. Pashinian made clear the following day that he remains committed to implementing the TRIPP project “as soon as possible.”
Armenia’s main opposition groups have voiced serious misgivings over the transit arrangement, saying that it would benefit Azerbaijan and endanger Armenian control over the border with Iran. The Armenian Church and Garegin in particular have likewise been critical of Pashinian’s concessions to Baku. Analysts view this as the main reason for Pashinian’s yearlong campaign to depose the Catholicos.