YEREVAN (A.W.)—A report by the U.S. ambassador to Armenia to the State Department filed in January 2009 noted that she had “positive and constructive” meetings with Armenia’s president and other officials on the issue of weapons transfer to Iran.
In the report, released by WikiLeaks on Dec. 6, Ambassador Yovanovitch writes, “Somewhat surprisingly, the President has reversed the mantra he has repeated for the last four months that the weapons transfer ‘did not happen and could not have happened.’ It’s not clear what has prompted this abrupt climb down, but it is probably some combination of solid evidence, a compelling presentation, an understanding of the consequences non-cooperation could bring, a desire to get off on the right foot with the new administration—and a Soviet-style calculation that they can sign the MOU, but probably won’t really have to implement it.”
An earlier cable dated December 2008 had cited the text of a letter from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte to the Armenian government expressing concern about the reported sale of weapons to Iran, stating, “Notwithstanding the close relationship between our countries, neither the Administration nor the U.S. Congress can overlook this case.” The letter went on to note that officials would discuss “whether there is a basis for the imposition of U.S. sanctions.”
According to the leaked files, “Between April 2006 and June 2008, Coalition forces in Iraq recovered multiple RPG-22 antitank weapons and PKM machine guns. These weapons bore Bulgarian factory markings and were tracked through a sales arrangement that took the weapons through Armenia to Iran.”
To read the complete January 2009 cable, click here.
iran is our ally and we can give them whatever we want. unlike americans, iran does not stab us in the back, they have been a true friend and ally to us.
Rita Hosepian,
Never, ever blindly trust any large country who have their own interests. So many nations that should have been our friends and should have done the right thing for us have betrayed us.
IF Iran is the only open border for Armenia, I do not understand how the Bulgarian weapons could have made their way into and then out of Armenia. Unless Georgia was directly connected, this transaction could have never taken place.
Obviously these weapons came in through Georgia. Yet the pinned the blame on Armenia. They also left Bulgaria off the hook. This is very typical US behavior — try to force the weakest actor make the greatest concessions, so as to minimize whatever the US has to compensate the stronger actors with. It is always worse under GOP administrations. It is old hat, tried and true and frankly getting hackneyed. The message that the Armenian government needs to bring to the United States is simple: DO NOT VOTE REPUBLICAN under any circumstances, any circumstances, unless it is for Congress and the GOP Candidate is a reliable friend. Block voting for anti-GOP candidates makes CA, MA and NJ un-winnable for the GOP, forcing it to rethink its policy towards our community. The GOP made inroads into some communities only when it realized that unless it began pandering to their interests, they were NEVER going to support it — we need to do the same.
Jack,
I’m not sure what Georgia’s role would be. They most likely did not know the weapons would end up in Iran. In the earlier cables it was mentioned that Armenia signed an agreement with Bulgaria saying the weapons would not go to Iran. The question is, did Sarkisyan know that Iran would send the weapons to Iraq?
The weapons are implicated in the deaths of US soldiers. They have every right to be angry about it. If there are any Armenian-Americans serving in Iraq, they would have been targets as well! I think people are barking up the wrong tree. Iran used Armenia to get weapons and have them used by insurgents in Iraq against American soldiers. It was a stupid move by Sarkisyan.
Armenia has every right to have economic and energy relations with Iran, but should stay out of weaponry.
Globalist criminals in Washington should mind their business and keep their damn bribe money (called aid) to themselves. I wish this story was true. Iran is our only normal neighbor, and such an arms deal would mean Yerevan and Tehran have top level cooperation. Armenia’s geopolitical interests should primarily lie with the Russian Federation and to a lesser yet significant extent with the Islamic State of Iran – everything else is irrelevant.
Jack – if the story is to be believed, the weaponry in question was small arms, and not heavy hardware such as tanks. Small arms, even heavy weaponry, can easily be transported by military aircraft.
Random Armenian – it’s precisely due to the type of self-destructive peasant mentality expressed by you that Armenia has remained a weak nation for centuries. Note: while Washington was aiding Turks during the Artsakh war in the 1990s, Iran was transporting Russian arms supplies to Armenia.
It’s the you-have-a-peasant-mentality guy again.
What does “top level cooperation” with Iran mean? You think Iran sees us on equal footing? The US, Russia and Iran are playing big boy games and look at Armenia as a small country that may or may not fit in their schemes.
Iran sent weapons to Iraq for insurgents to attack US troops. What does that have to do with Armenia?! Why should Armenia be involved with it? Iran used Armenia to get weapons. And why are you bringing up tanks?
It is in the best interest of Armenia to have ties with as many countries as possible. It’s unavoidable to have the closest ties with Russia, but we have no idea what’s going to happen in that country in 10, 20, 40 years. What will Russia’s foreign policy be after Putin? Will Turkey and Azerbaijan be able to buy off Russia? Will oil and gas be a huge source of income? And Russia was on both sides of the Artsakh war.
Random Armenian
Vladimir Putin’s policy is FSB’s policy. Putin is just a representative of the powerful FSB that runs the political show behind the scenes, much like how the CIA-Defense Department runs the show here in America. In my opinion, Armenians have nothing to worry about as long as Slavic-Orthodox Christians (ethnic Russians) are running to show in the Kremlin. Turkey and Azerbaijan buy off Russia? Why weren’t they able to do so in the 1990s, when they had the best chance? Gazprom alone could buy Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The Soviet Union was on the Azeri side, the Russian Federation was, is and will be on the Armenian side.
When Armenia desperately needed help in the 1990s, Russia and Iran were the only powers on earth that helped out in a way that ensured an Armenian victory. Your favorite whores in places like Washington, Brussels, Tel Aviv and London were openly and actively helping out our enemies at the time. When Washington stops arming Turks, Azeris, Georgians and Chechen terrorists in the Caucasus, they can then ask Armenians not to transfer arms to Iran. Until then, if Iran needs arms, Armenia should be more than willing to provide it to them. Iran has the right to purchase weapons, Armenia has the right to sell it to them. Besides which, if American occupiers are not bogged down in Iraq and in Afghanistan, they will turn their deadly attention on Iran. Iran needs our help. If the regime in Tehran falls, Armenia will be very negatively impacted.
In final analysis, there are only two nations on earth that continues to see Armenia as a valuable asset in the Caucasus and they are Russia and Iran. For the West, Armenia is merely an obstacle to their regional energy exploitation. Russia will look favorably upon Armenia as long as the Caucasus region remains threatened by pan-Turkism, American Imperialism, NATO expansionism and Islamic fundamentalism. So, for the foreseeable future, Moscow will continue jealously protecting Armenia like it protects Russia. Instead of acting like a bunch of self-destructive peasants, use the historic opportunity Moscow has been providing us to strengthen Armenia.
PS: Russia is a big geopolitical topic. I suggest you do some research on the Federation before you continue talking nonsense. You can start here: http://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/
Was the US talking about selling weapons to Azeris, Turks or the Israelis selling weapons to Turks Azeris, which one….