Armenia most interested in Iran-U.S. reaching agreement

ArmInfo. Armenia has the greatest interest in Iran and the United States reaching an agreement and Iran emerging from this war with greater leverage. This was stated by Robert Kocharyan, the prime ministerial candidate from the Armenia bloc and the country's second president, during the latest  episode of the "Big Politics" podcast.

"If this also means a review of sanctions, their lifting or  significant easing, then this will open up new opportunities for  Armenia's economic relations with Iran. Of course, Iran will need  time to normalize relations with Arab countries, but I have no doubt  that all this will be restored very quickly, and here we have an  excellent opportunity for economic rapprochement with Iran. I  consider this scenario highly likely, because if the United States  continues, it is entirely predictable that the Trump administration  will lose control of Congress as early as this fall, and the next two  or three years will simply be years of protection from impeachment,"  Kocharyan said. Speaking about the situation overall, the politician  emphasized that the developments surrounding Iran as a result of the  US and Israeli attacks on Iran will lead to serious global changes.

Kocharyan stated that the US and Israel, when attacking Iran,  believed they would quickly achieve victory, betting that the  country's state foundations were very weak and that Iran would  quickly collapse. "But, as it turns out, Iranian statehood is much  stronger than the US and Israel thought," he noted, adding that the  attack on Iran has placed the US in a very difficult position.

The politician noted that the US and Israeli attacks on Iran have led  to the Iranian people rallying around the country's authorities. In  this vein, Kocharyan recalled that the Iranian people have over 3,000  years of uninterrupted statehood and a very strong sense of identity,  and aggression against such a country leads to this identity becoming  the glue around which the people consolidate.

"And yes, when you kill around 7,000 women and children, you  transform this war from an anti-regime war into a war for the  homeland. In Iran today, this war is perceived as a homeland war-this  is the biggest mistake the US and Israel failed to take into account  and has only strengthened the regime," the politician continued.

At the same time, she noted that this attack led to an asymmetrical  response from Iran, something that had not happened before. "They  used their geographic position to counterbalance the US, and it  worked. They escalated the war by attacking US allies in the region,  where Washington had 13 military bases and other areas, and closed  the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, with their asymmetrical actions, they  counterbalanced the enormous military potential of the US and  Israel," the former Armenian president noted.

He further noted that the negotiations between the US and Iran in  Islamabad revolved around 10 Iranian proposals. "I was very surprised  by this. This is an unusual and surprising phenomenon. Agreement has  been reached on a number of points, but on several others, no  agreement has been reached. This means one thing: Iran's steps have  worked. My impression is that agreement has been reached on some  issues. The only question is whether Iran is ready to make even small  concessions or not. Or perhaps they have realized the potential they  have for self-assertion," Kocharyan noted, believing a situation will  arise in which Iran, for its part, will declare victory, and the  United States, for its part.

The politician drew attention to another important circumstance.  According to him, US President Donald Trump's statement about his  readiness to destroy an entire civilization has strengthened the  unity of the Iranian people and the perception of what is happening  as a patriotic war. Kocharyan believes there is a possibility that  the US and Iran will reach an agreement.

He added that he does not rule out a new hot phase, given the  unpredictability of the US administration, noting that in this sense,  they have no other option but to conduct a ground operation, which  would create a difficult situation for them. "It is impossible to win  a war with bombing alone," Kocharyan noted, adding that neither the  world nor Iran will be the same after this war.