Iranian protesters in Armenia have told OC Media that they continue to face pressure from Armenian authorities amid their ongoing anti-Iranian government rallies near the country’s embassy in Yerevan.
Although the daily gatherings have continued, permitted by the Armenian authorities, attendance has dropped significantly, which Iranians attributed to the reported pressure from Armenian authorities.
An Iranian told OC Media that the National Security Service (NSS) contacted ‘all the leaders’ of protests in Armenia since last week and asked them to show up to ‘have a friendly chat’.
‘They verbally informed them not to invite people to gather through their groups and social media pages. They said that you have gathered for several days already and that is enough, and you must end it’, the Iranian demonstrator told OC Media.
Moreover, according to the same source, the Armenian authorities reportedly threatened Iranians by saying that if they continue to show up to the rallies, ‘next time we will not be meeting like this’.
‘On the surface and legally, they granted permission, but in reality, through these actions, they prevented the gatherings from taking place’, they added.
Iranians attribute the pressure from the Armenian authorities to ‘pressure’ coming from Tehran.
Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Khalil Shirgholami, criticised the daily demonstrations in a press briefing on 14 January, saying that they continue despite Tehran's protests.
‘In Tehran, a perception is forming that Armenia is becoming a hub for the actions of forces hostile to Iran’, Shirgholami added.
Several Armenian officials have responded to Iran, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, by pointing to Armenia’s laws, which guarantee freedom of assembly.
Despite Yerevan’s statements, Iranian protesters have continued to report facing more pressure and threats from the authorities, as they continue their questioning.
NSS confirms summons
Earlier in January, OC Media reported that Iranian protesters in Armenia say they have been questioned by the NSS as they held their daily protests.
In response to OC Media requests for comment, the NSS said on 20 January that Iranians were not being interrogated, but that they instead were holding ‘inquiry-related activities’.
These were ‘carried out within the scope of the service’s legally mandated counterintelligence and crime-fighting functions, in accordance with the regulations set out in the law on operative-search activity’, the agency said.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Starting from the first week of January, Iranians in Armenia began to gather near their respective embassy every evening. Like many in the diaspora, they have been expressing solidarity with the nationwide anti-government protests in their homeland that have been the subject of massive repression by Iranian security officials, resulting in thousands of deaths.
In the past days, protesters said police instructed them to move further away from the embassy, to an adjacent park.
Previously, the protests were held on the opposite side of the embassy, separated from it by a road, a row of trees, and a police cordon.
‘For the past two days, people participating in the gathering have been verbally told that the neighbours around the embassy are complaining about the noise’, an OC Media source said on Tuesday.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
Aside from the questioning, Iranian protesters said they remain confused over why or how the authorities grant them permits to hold protests only to revoke them later.
Documents seen by OC Media show that the Yerevan Municipality initially authorised a march from the Iranian Embassy to the Blue Mosque on 17 January, but the permit was revoked the following day after it had been issued.
On the day of the intended march, Armenian authorities placed seven demonstrators under administrative detention for failing to comply with police orders.
Yousef Bardouka
