Expert: Changing the political component of the Armenian-Iranian  relations on the background of the sanctions will be a grave mistake

ArmInfo. US unilateral sanctions against Iran will have an impact on the Armenian economy, Head of the Iranian studies Department at the Faculty of Oriental  Studies at YSU Vardan Voskanian expressed this opinion on November 6  at a press conference in Yerevan.

He recalled that, in contrast to 2015, yesterday the United States  unilaterally imposed sanctions on Iran, while unilaterally  withdrawing from a nuclear agreement signed in 2015. The expert  stated that the situation is fundamentally different from what  happened in 2015, as Iran today continues contacts with the European  Union and other countries of the agreement. "In this issue, it can be  stated that the European Union went against its ally, the United  States, and continues to cooperate with Iran, making efforts,  including to mitigate the impact of sanctions. In this situation,  Armenia should support the European position on Iran and as a  European country conduct a policy consistent with the EU, "the expert  said.

At the same time, speaking about the risks that these sanctions bear  for Armenia, Voskanyan noted that they will affect the Armenian  economy, however the country may try to maneuver in any way. However,  according to him, in the political component of the Armenian-Iranian  relations one can hardly expect any deviations. "If there are any, it  will be a gross mistake," an expert on Iran said.  Touching the  statement by the Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, that  the borders with Iran and Georgia may close at any time, Voskanian  expressed the conviction that such statements can be misleading, so  it's not worth focusing on this context. "This statement has caused  some misunderstanding by the Iranian side. This is also due to the  fact that today Iranian society does not understand what is happening  in our country and needs clarification of the events. This should be  done by our side through different channels and should be presented  to different layers of Iranian society ", the expert summarized.

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

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 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 Action Plan was adopted,  the implementation of which would result in cancelation of  previous  economic and financial sanctions by the UN Security Council, the  United States and the European Union.