The reaction of Iran to the death of General Qasem Soleimani will be elaborative, the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian-Armenian University, Professor Garnik Asatryan told Armenian News - NEWS.am.

“Now Soleimani is a consolidating icon, a factor uniting Iran at the metaphysical level to a much greater extent than all Western sanctions, the consequences of which the Iranians face regularly,” he said

According to Asatryan, Iran is a state with a living ideology, it is not necessary to reduce it to an exclusively religious idea.

This ideology is much wider and reflects the great cultural continuity, regardless of the historical period and regimes, he noted adding that the personality of Soleimani fits perfectly into this great historical and cultural paradigm. 

“The incident, of course, is a serious blow to the already fragile stability in the region. President Trump, who ordered the liquidation of Soleimani, could not help but understand this. If you remember, it was the successively demonized US that Soleimani repeatedly advocated for dialogue with the West ... This is a completely shameful act of political assassination - moreover, on the territory of the country, which owes much to General Soleimani maintaining borders in an extremely dramatic period of its history. If this act is not condemned, first of all, at the level of international organizations, such organizations are worthless: then all their efforts to maintain peace are nothing more than an imitation,” the professor noted.

Iran’s reaction is completely logical, he noted.

“Soleimani caused delight even among the opposition-minded Iranian emigration, including America. The general became a symbol of the country's greatness and inflexibility, the very embodiment of Iran in the historical sense of the term, embodying the characteristics of both Iranian epic heroes and Shiite martyrs, connecting ancient Iran with today's ... ”Asatryan noted. 

As Asatryan noted, Iran will certainly find a way to demonstrate both its mastery of the situation and its influence in the region. But the essential reaction of Iran will be elaborative.

“The goal of any truly great country is not simply to demonstrate its strength or to be able to give an equal answer to the challenge, which, of course, is within Iran’s strength, but in a balanced strategy - to intelligently deter evil in the long term. Iran is not inclined to hasty, reckless steps,” he noted adding that Iran has a different goal - security and peaceful development of its own state amid stability in the region.”

Speaking about Armenia amid this situation, Asatryan noted that the Middle East crisis is entering a new phase of its development and no matter what this phase turns into - another round of tension or a big war, it will affect the country with varying degrees of severity. 

“Tests can be at any level. We are bordered by states that are either openly opponents of Iran and Russia, or acting as convenient bridgeheads for actions against these countries. Not inclining to excessive pathos and drama, I want to say that I have no doubt in the ability of our large civilizational space to withstand threats. But, given the fact that Armenia, being in an arc of tension, marks one of the most painful and at the same time the most important points of this space, we will have to show the highest degree of consolidation and mobilization, be prepared for sacrifice and for a feat if necessary. We cannot afford to be a weak link. Every step of the country's domestic and foreign policy should be extremely verified amid the recent development, and the security issues of the Armenian states should be in absolute priority. Difficult times await us. But God is with us,” he concluded.