“I think it is natural [Irakli Kobakhidze's congratulation]. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan also congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as leader - this is a protocol congratulation, in which I do not see anything special,” - this was stated by analyst Gia Loladze on PalitraNews's program “Day's Newsroom,” responding to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's congratulatory message to Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as Supreme Leader of Iran.

According to him, given the regional context and the relations Georgia has with Iran, the congratulation is even necessary.

“If we go back centuries, we have a difficult past with Iran, but over the last 35 years since Georgia became an independent state, we have had quite normal relations under all governments. I think [Irakli Kobakhidze's congratulation] is natural; the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan also congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as leader. We can say that this is a protocol congratulation, in which I do not see anything special. Given our regional context and the relations we have with Iran, it is probably even necessary. However, we must understand that this context is also understood in the West. I do not think this is the main problem in Georgian-American relations; there are much deeper problems that have accumulated over the last three years. And resolving these problems will not be influenced by whom we congratulate and on what, because the fact is that these issues remain unresolved, and we have not seen any shift in the last few years,” - stated Gia Loladze.

For information: Mojtaba Khamenei has been elected as Supreme Leader of Iran. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze sent him an official congratulatory message, information about which was published today on the website of the Government Administration.