Armenia, Iran Agree to Strengthen Defense Ties

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehqan discussing Nagorno-Karabakh in Moscow on April 27, 2016 (Photo: President.am)

TEHRAN (RFE/RL)””An Armenian deputy defense minister in charge of arms and other procurements has reportedly reached agreements on closer military cooperation between Armenia and Iran during a visit to Tehran.

The official, General Movses Hakobian, is the recently appointed head of the Armenian Defense Ministry on Department Material-Technical Procurements. The department is tasked with supplying Armenia’s Armed Forces with weapons, ammunition, food and other provisions.

The ministry said over the weekend that a delegation headed by Hakobian was in Iran from June 14-17, holding talks with Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan and Mohammad Mehdi Karbala, the chief executive of the state-run ETKA corporation, a leading supplier of food, clothing and other non-lethal items to the Iranian military.

A ministry statement said the Armenian delegation also “visited various factories and stores and acquainted itself with the full range of their products.”