Iran Is Not an Accomplice in Any War, Papuashvili Says

At a briefing held today at the Georgian Dream office, Shalva Papuashvili was asked why it was necessary to represent Georgia at the highest level at the inauguration of the president of Iran and whether this sends a message to Western partners.

"Perhaps you remember a similar situation when there was a visit to China by various officials. There were the same accusations, and today we see that all the European leaders are going to China. It was the same pathos, as if because of connections with Russia and so on. We do not look at the world through such a prism; we look at the world from the perspective of Georgia and our historical place, and we consider our neighborhood. This is not only a matter of diplomatic, but also historical tact. The Georgian people should be represented not only during difficult times but also during significant events such as the inauguration of a president," Papuashvili responded.

In response to a journalist's question about whether the government finds it difficult to establish close relations with a country involved in the war, Papuashvili said,

"Iran is not an accomplice in any war, at least not this one. I don't know where you get that from. As for our relations with Iran, we have historical and diplomatic ties based on mutual respect and cultural relations between nations. It is important that the state does not merely follow others but acts according to its principles. We are a 30-year-old new republic, but we are a 3000-year-old state, and I don't think any other state has the experience of statehood that is in the Georgian genes."

Papuashvili did not respond to the question of whether he has information that Iran supplies "Shahid" drones to Putin's regime and continued, "We do not need anyone's instructions on how to behave in our neighborhood and how to maintain peace in this geopolitically challenging region. The government of Georgia acts solely in the interest of the Georgian people."

In the past three months, the Prime Minister of Georgia has visited Iran twice. On May 22, Irakli Kobakhidze, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ilia Darchiashvili, attended the funeral ceremony of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Leaders of the terrorist organizations Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Taliban, as well as the Chairman of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and others participated in the funeral procession. On July 30, Irakli Kobakhidze, along with Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili, attended the inauguration of the newly elected President, Masoud Pezeshkiani. Kobakhidze met with Fezeshkiani and wished him success.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Iran has supported Russia both diplomatically and militarily. From September 2022 to December 2023, Russia launched approximately 3,700 Iranian-made kamikaze drones - Shahid-131/Shahid-136 - towards Ukraine. Due to this arms supply to Russia, the Ukrainian government expelled the Iranian ambassador and downgraded its diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic. Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted in a report published a few days ago that Russia continues to deepen its bilateral relations with Iran in exchange for receiving lethal aid for use in Ukraine.