Armenia ready to discuss any issue with U.S., ambassador says when asked about Iran

By Siranush Adamyan

Armenia is ready to discuss any issue with the United States, Armenia’s ambassador to the U.S., Narek Mkrtchyan said when asked whether Yerevan would consider isolating neighboring Iran at Washington’s request.

“There is no topic in the world that cannot be discussed,” Mkrtchyan said in an interview with Robert Sherman on The Hill’s Frontlines. “Everything is discussable and everything can be taken into consideration.”

Mkrtchyan did not say that the United States had made such a request or commit Armenia to isolating Iran. Instead, he said the main priority in Armenia’s relations with Washington was the implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, a proposed transit project through Armenia.

He said the project was not intended to target Iran or Russia.

“Iran is an immediate neighbor,” Mkrtchyan said. “We need to have normal relations and we always had normal relations with Iran.”

Maintaining a peaceful border and friendly relations with Iran was important for TRIPP’s successful implementation, he said. Armenia had communicated to Tehran that the project concerned transport, infrastructure, trade and commerce and had “nothing” to do with military activity, he added.

In the wider interview, Mkrtchyan described closer ties with Washington as part of Armenia’s effort to diversify its economic, security and technological partnerships. He said the planned route could link Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Europe while remaining under Armenian jurisdiction.