Member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun: US pressure on Armenia over cooperation  with Iran will continue

ArmInfo.US pressure on Armenia over cooperation with Iran will continue, Kiro Manoyan, ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office  Director, expressed this opinion at a press conference in Yerevan On  November 7.

Speaking about the deterioration of relations between the United  States and Iran, he stated that the visit of Trump's national  security adviser John Bolton was aimed at putting pressure on  regional countries on their interaction with Tehran. "The pressure on  Armenia will continue in order to bring the Armenian-Iranian  relations to a minimum. And this cannot but cause our concern,"  member of Dashnaktsutyun said.

At the same time, he is convinced that in today's realities, it is  impossible to simultaneously pursue a policy satisfactory for the  United States, and to maintain good relations with Iran. At the same  time, Manoyan believes that it is necessary to bring to the United  States the position that the Armenian-Iranian relations are not  directed against Washington.

Manoyan reminded that today Armenia has two borders - with Iran and  Georgia, and it is necessary to continue developing this cooperation.  "Armenia has always led a cautious foreign policy and tried to do  everything not to harm its partners in any way. In this situation, we  can adopt a balanced position of the European Union," Manoyan said,  adding that, despite the complexity of the situation, Armenia should  continue develop economic cooperation with Iran.

At the same time, he, assured that he did not understand the phrase  by Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the possible  closure of borders with Iran and Georgia. At the same time, Manoyan  believes that today there is a need to bring to the Iranian side what  is happening inside Armenia, to introduce clarity, that the internal  political processes in the country will in no way affect its foreign  policy vector. "I don't think that there is no clarity from the  Armenian side in relations with Iran. And the only thing we can do  today is to further develop our relations with Iran, and this is  primarily based on our interests, not those of Tehran", he  summarized.

On November 5, new US sanctions against Iran entered into force.  Sanctions will cover oil exports. Washington earlier announced the  goal to bring Iranian oil exports to zero and urged its buyers to  abandon purchases. On Monday, the Finance Ministry announced that the  United States added to the sanctions list more than 700 individuals,  organizations, aircraft and ships of Iran.

To recall, US President Donald Trump announced in May that Washington  was withdrawing from an agreement on nuclear program with Iran. He  also reported on the restoration of all sanctions against Iran,  including secondary ones, that is, against other countries doing  business with Iran. The United States re-introduced part of the  sanctions against Iran on August 7. More substantial sanctions, which  will cover oil exports, entered into force on 5 November. Iran and  the "six" international mediators (Russia, USA, Britain, China,  France, Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached a historic agreement on  resolving the perennial problem of the Iranian atom: the Joint  Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was adopted, the implementation  of which removed Iran's previously economic and financial sanctions  by the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union.   In this connection, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia made a statement  and stressed that Yerevan closely follows the processes and is in  constant contact with all the parties involved in the process. "We  clearly voice our concerns. Traditional and friendly relations with  Iran are vital for Armenia. A comprehensive expert analysis of the  impact of sanctions against Iran on Armenia is underway," the RA  Foreign Ministry said.