On November 3, at parliamentary hearings for the 2023 state budget, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Armenia would establish an Embassy in Uruguay and a General Consulate in the Iranian city of Tabriz.
Mirzoyan noted that the general Iranian consulate had previously been established in Kapan. Regarding the establishment of an Embassy in Uruguay, the Minister emphasized that it would give Armenia a platform to further its ties with Latin American nations.
"We also want to establish diplomatic missions in Cyprus (which will function as a branch of the Armenian Embassy in Greece) and Belgrade, Serbia (which will function as a branch of the Embassy in the Czech Republic)," he added.
Importantly, Azerbaijanis are Iran’s most significant ethnic minority, numbering at least 12 million. According to some estimates, up to 20-30 million live in Iran - almost one-quarter of the population. Reportedly, Azerbaijanis have faced political and cultural discrimination. The US State Department reported that the government prohibited Azerbaijanis from speaking their language in schools, harassed Azerbaijani activists, and changed Azerbaijani town names.
As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, on October 21, Ararat Mirzoyan and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian participated in the opening ceremony of the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kapan, the Press Office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported. Minister Mirzoyan delivered remarks, which he particularly noted: "Today is remarkable in the history of Armenian-Iranian friendly relations. I am confident that establishing and effectively operating the Consulate General of Iran will give a new quality to the special relations between the two countries, promote bilateral cooperation, and contribute to the development of Armenian-Iranian ties."
On the same day, Aliyev underlined: "There are many more Azerbaijanis living outside Azerbaijan than in the country alone. Of course, their security, their rights, and well-being are of the utmost importance to us. We will continue to do everything to help the Azerbaijanis who have found themselves cut off from our state, to assist them in their development so that they preserve the Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani traditions, Azerbaijani culture, remain true to the principles of Azerbaijanism and never cut off ties with their historical homeland, just as many representatives of other peoples of our fraternal Turkic states live outside their states. But I also know that all leaders of the Turkic states attach great importance to how the rights of their brothers are secured in various countries."
