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During the January 14 broadcast of TV 5’s “Haylur” news program, the commentator attributed a fabricated concern to Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia, Khalil Shirgholami, allegedly voiced during a press conference with Armenian media held earlier that day.
In particular, the commentator claimed that the Iranian Ambassador had expressed concern over why Armenia signed a new document with the United States in Washington on January 14 regarding the so-called Trump Route amid threats against Iran reportedly being voiced from the U.S. capital.
Let us recall that on January 14, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the framework for the implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.
Concerns by the Iranian Ambassador
On January 14, a press conference was held by the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia regarding domestic political developments and protests in his country. During the press conference, the Ambassador voiced two concerns related to Armenia.
In particular, he expressed dissatisfaction regarding a protest by Iranians in front of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Yerevan, noting that “in Tehran, a perception is forming that Armenia is turning into a hub for forces hostile to Iran.”
“The participants in those protests were against the killing of protesters in Iran and were demanding secular rule instead of religious authority,” the Ambassador noted.
During the press conference, the Ambassador also touched upon the recent developments over the Trump Route literally stating the following: “As for the agreements between Armenia and the United States, our position is clear: we have told our Armenian partners that we trust you, but we are dealing with the United States, which has taken actions against Iran. We do not trust the United States. We are concerned that the U.S. may use this project within the framework of its security policy. We have conveyed this to our Armenian partners. They have assured us that Armenia will never become a source of threat to Iran. We have agreed that our discussions will continue regularly in order to understand the scope of this project.”
Thus, the TV 5 commentator attributed to official Tehran, and specifically to the Ambassador, fabricated concerns that he had not expressed.
Manipulative claim by an ARF MP
ARF MP Artur Khachatryan, in a conversation with journalists, posed a manipulative question, saying: “Is it a coincidence that the Armenian-American meeting was organized amid the latest mass protests in Iran?”
MP Khachatryan presents his own assumptions, suggesting that the latest Armenian-American document should have been signed during U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Armenia, and then makes analysis based on this assumption “why did Ararat Mirzoyan go [to the US-ed.] in such a haste.”
It should be noted that earlier unofficial information had circulated about Vance’s possible visit to Armenia, which the MFA neither refuted nor confirmed. At the same time, there is no information in open sources about the signing of such a document as part of Vance’s visit to Armenia.
To TV 5’s journalist’s question whether he thought this was related to Iran, Khachatryan answered affirmatively, claiming that “this issue is there, it happened amid uncertainty and risks in Iran.”
The meeting was planned weeks before the protests in Iran
The Fact Investigation Platform learned from MFA spokesperson Ani Badalyan that since mid-December 2025 it had already been planned that a high-level Armenian-American meeting would take place in the very near future, within one month.
At the same time, protests in Iran began only on December 28, 2025, initially having a purely socio-economic nature, and only in January 2026 did they turn into mass protests, covering almost all of Iran.
Thus, the Mirzoyan–Rubio meeting was planned weeks before the protests in Iran, therefore claims based on assumptions that the timing of the meeting was deliberately chosen amid domestic tensions in Iran are manipulative.
Nane Manasyan
