YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: In recent days, people with Iranian passports have been involved in the construction work being carried out in Astghashen community of Artsakh's [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] Askeran region—and under the state housing program.

The number of laborers [there] of unknown origin is not very large at the moment—about 2 dozen—, but their presence has caused discomfort to the locals. They do not understand at all why they hired foreigners when the problem of employment in Artsakh is acute, especially after the war [last fall].

The head of Astghashen community, Artur Grigoryan, confirmed that foreigners are participating in the housing construction work ongoing in their community. (…). To the question that there are suspicions that they [i.e., the aforesaid foreign laborers] are [actually] Azeris who moved to Artsakh with Iranian passports, he said. "I don't know that either. Ask the construction company, the government, let them answer all those questions. I do not have such authority."

[But] we did not manage to contact either the Artsakh urban development minister or the president's spokesperson.