Yesterday, I testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Europe and Eurasian Subcommittee, which was investigating Iranian strategy, influence, and interests in the Caucasus. As always, there’s good news and bad news from the region. Azerbaijan remains a stalwart U.S. ally intolerant of Iranian approaches. Georgia is as well, but after its October election remains very much in play. Turkey’s efforts to subvert sanctions are well known. The greater problem today is Armenia:
- According to a State Department cable released by Wikileaks, in 2008, U.S. diplomats concluded that Armenia shipped Iran weaponry, which Iran then used to kill Americans.
- Bank Mellat, a sanctioned Iranian bank, operates in Yerevan, and Iranian businesses dot the city.
- In October 2011, a member of Armenia’s Nuclear Energy Organization told the Iranian press that Tehran had enticed several Armenian nuclear scientists to work in Iran’s nuclear program.
The Armenian community in the United States is fortunate to be both vibrant and organized. It is unfortunate that organizations representing the Armenian Diaspora in the United States and the congressmen who partner with them do not do more to encourage change in the Armenian government’s geopolitical behavior. Certainly, Armenia is between a rock and a hard place. Russia looms large, both culturally and politically, and Armenians are loathe to unravel that relationship in an age when no one believes U.S. guarantees of continued commitment.
Cultural links are also strong to Iran; when I first studied in the Islamic Republic in the mid-1990s, my apartment was in Julfa, Isfahan’s chief Armenian neighborhood. The Armenian community need not drop its advocacy for recognition of the Armenian genocide, but by ignoring Armenia’s pro-Iranian orientation, the Armenian-American community squanders an opportunity to build a true strategic partnership between Washington and Yerevan, a partnership which would certainly be to both countries’ benefit.
I'd like to highlight that given the dual blockade on Armenia by Turkey/Azerbaijan, it is an economic necessity to have such ties with Iran. The blockade on Armenia by Turkey is illegal, so if the US wants Armenia to have less economic relations with Iran, it should pressure Turkey to unconditionally open its borders (which US officials have repeatedly said). Even Secretary of State, Clinton, said that the "ball was in Turkey's court" when it comes to opening borders and establishing relations. Armenia has complied with US investigations on the border and doesn't have any interest of violating sanctions. In the end, the economic reality is such, that not having economic ties with Iran could amount to economic suicide for the landlocked, resource-less, country of Armenia.
Armenia's beef is with Azerbaijan, so is this not also about the enemy of my enemy is my friend? n n
Great, another yehudon who turns against Armenia because Baku and Ankara pay moderate lip service to Jerusalem. Bruce Fein, is that you?
Fabulous. Another yehudon sniping at a rare functioning democracy and American ally in that region (Armenia) simply because Baku and Ankara hate Israel less than other Islamic states.
How is Armenia a weak link? There are over 10 million Azeris living in Iran! The blockades imposed by staunch US allies against Armenia is the only reason that Armenia is heavily dependent n Iran. And those weapons you speak about that Armenia trades with Iran? When was the last time you looked at Armenia's weaponry. Armenia's weapons, compared to their neighbors (Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, and Georgia) is extremely lagging. On the other hand, Azerbaijan spend about 3 billion dollars in arms collection. Azerbaijan shares a common religious view with Iran. Azerbaijan does more trade with Iran. For someone who spoke before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Europe and Eurasian Subcommittee, you sir are biased, short minded, and quite simply irrelevant.
This issue is directly connected with the Gordian Knot of Nagorno-Karabagh. The Western power who are trying to solve that issue ignore history, namely the brutal elimination of nArmenians, Pontic Greeks and Nestorians (so-called Assyrians and Chaldeans) from what is now Eastern Turkey.and the recent pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait. Turkey was willing to give Armenia an alternative land outlet to Iran by opening its borders with Armenia until Ilham Aliyev threatened Erdogan with cutting off oil and gas. Given this history of pogroms, the Armenians who live in the former Soviet oblast of Nagorno-Karabagh will never accept Azeri rule. n
Armenia, an impoverished democracy trying to protect its people through the only available economic partnership is “the problem?” Azerbaijan, an oil-soaked, extravagantly corrupt dictatorship that makes national heroes out of axe-murderers is an ally? If marriage to the Israeli agenda perverts American foreign policy so dramatically and makes us lose sight of basic morality, we should re-evaluate this marriage.