I don't know; call, ask them. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ararat Mirzoyan on Friday told this to reporters within the framework of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, in Yerevan, in response to Armenian News-NEWS.am's question about why a representative from Azerbaijan did not come to attend COP17.
"There is nothing new that can be interpreted as tension, which would give grounds for coming or not coming. Our invitation was there. By the way, specifically COP17 is a UN event, therefore, inviting or not inviting is also very formal. They [i.e. Azerbaijan] are full members of the UN, and this is also their event; so, they could have come without any worries," he added.
Regarding the fact that Iran periodically voices concerns about the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) regional transport project, Mirzoyan said: “The comments, the—let me say—the ‘sauce’ with which Iran’s concerns about the TRIPP are presented in some Armenian media resources, if not to say are significantly far from reality, I can say are significantly exaggerated. There are certainly questions on the Iranian side, the answers to those questions have been given, the Iranian side, in my opinion, is satisfied with this process.”
“For example, the Iranian side says, ‘Will there be an American armed presence along the TRIPP?’ There won’t be. People ask, and we say, there won’t be. The papers testify to that, the reality testifies to that. That is, it is normal that they have that question, and we give the correct answer to that question. They also say, well, if there won’t be, they also will be able to use that railway network; very good,’" Ararat Mirzoyan added.
When reminded that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had stated that the intervention of extra-regional forces could destabilize the region, the Armenian foreign minister said: "And I can say the same thing on my own behalf. What do you know what I mean, or what do you know what Iran means? In general, I think it is a textbook truth that the armed presence of a third party somewhere in the relations of the two will only complicate the lives of both. It is a textbook truth."