On July 7, Petros Ghazaryan’s guest on Public TV was the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the Republic of Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri. Petros Ghazaryan asked the ambassador։ “Recently, there were discussions that we want to open an embassy in Israel. Armenia announced that Armenia will never be engaged in an anti-Iranian game. Your comment as a close, friendly country representative, please, how do you accept that?”
The ambassador answered: “Our country’s position towards Israel has been presented for years. We take actions for the sensitive attitude we have so as not to create problems with our neighbors. But Israel has always tried to ruin our best relations with our neighbors. Iran respects Armenia’s decision. We are always expressing our concerns during the meetings with officials. Our position is the following: we have good relations with the neighbors and do not want to spoil them”
In its article, “Armenpress” removed the “but” connecting the two parts of the Iranian ambassador’s speech, and presented it as follows: “We respect Armenia’s decision. We always express our concerns during our meetings with officials.” The article was titled as “Iran respects Armenia’s decision: The Iranian ambassador on opening an Armenian embassy in Israel.” “Media Advocate” initiative notes that as a result, the logical connection between the ambassador’s thoughts was broken, and with such manipulation, an attempt was made to present the Armenian-Iranian relations in a more positive light.
By the way, after the interview given to the Public Television, the Iranian ambassador also gave an interview to the correspondent of the Iranian TV organization, where he clarified Iran’s position on Armenia-Israel relations.
The Ambassador noted: “Having a bitter experience in regard to the policy of the Israeli administration, we considered it our duty to warn the Armenian authorities in this matter.”
