US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1992

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001992 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PHUM, IR, AM 
SUBJECT: ARMENIANS WILL NOT JEOPARDIZE ECONOMIC TIES FOR 
POLITICAL CRITICISM OF IRAN 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 1986 B) YEREVAN 1725 C) YEREVAN 1969 
 
     D) YEREVAN 1055 E) YEREVAN 391 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John M. Evans for reasons 1.4(b,d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) In a November 8 conversation with the Ambassador, 
Presidential chief of staff and co-chair of the Armenia-Iran 
Joint Economic Commission (JEC) Artashes Tumanian said he 
would have no choice but to meet with Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in Tehran on November 11 (reftels), but 
that he would not be able to directly discuss the new 
president's inflammatory anti-Israeli rhetoric.  Instead, 
Tumanian said, he planned to raise the issue with "other 
Iranian officials" over the course of his five-day visit. 
Armenians were "as horrified as anyone else" by 
Ahmadi-Nejad's rhetoric, according to Tumanian, though that 
same day, Armenian Energy Minister Movsesyan told reporters 
that that Ahmadi-Nejad's remarks "will not affect" 
Armenian-Iranian relations.  A growing chorus of GOAM 
officials is publicly contradicting Tumanian's assurances, 
however, hailing relations with Iran as "extremely important" 
for Armenian economic development -- particularly in energy 
and trade -- and openly dismissing the danger of Iranian 
extremism.  End Summary. 
 
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GOAM IN PRIVATE:  EXTREMISM IS/ISN'T ON THE TEHRAN AGENDA 
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2. (C) In a November 8 conversation with the Ambassador, 
Presidential chief of staff and co-chair of the Armenia-Iran 
Joint Economic Commission (JEC) Artashes Tumanian said he 
would meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in 
Tehran the week of November 11 (reftels), but that he would 
not directly discuss the new president's inflammatory 
anti-Israeli remarks.  Instead, Tumanian said he planned to 
"caution other Iranian officials" over the course of his five 
days of consultations.  A seven-year veteran of the 
Armenia-Iran JEC, Tumanian told the Ambassador that Armenians 
were "as horrified as anyone else" by Ahmadi-Nejad's 
comments, but that a direct conversation, particularly during 
their first meeting, would be inappropriate.  (Note: 
Tumanian committed to meet with the Ambassador to discuss his 
JEC consultations upon his return from Tehran.  End Note.) 
 
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GOAM IN PUBLIC: ARMENIA-IRAN RELATIONS ON TRACK 
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3. (C) Contrary to Tumanian's private comments, Armenian 
Minister of Energy Armen Movsesyan, who is joining Tumanian's 
November 11-17 JEC delegation to Tehran, told reporters at 
the Noyan Tapan News Agency that Armenia has "no political 
problems" with Iran and added that Ahmadi-Nejad's remarks 
"will not affect" relations "especially in the energy 
sector."  In various public statements, Movsesyan, Minister 
of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian (ref. B), Prime Minister 
Adranik Markaryan (September 15), President Robert Kocharian 
(June 27), Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan (February 8) have 
all publicly acknowledged the importance of deepening 
economic and political relations with Iran. 
 
4. (C) Following a September 15 meeting with Ahmadi-Nejad at 
the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Armenian Prime 
Minister Andranik Markaryan told reporters at Armenia's 
Mediamax and Azg news agencies that "there are no political 
problems between Armenia and Iran."  The news agencies 
reported that Markaryan said Iran's "balanced regional 
policy" played an "extremely important" role in 
Armenian-Iranian joint economic development and in 
strengthening stability in the South Caucasus.  On June 27, 
President Kocharian issued a public statement congratulating 
Ahmadi-Nejad, then President-elect of the "friendly state of 
Iran."  Kocharian's statement read, "I hope that during Your 
Excellency's tenure in office, relations between our two 
countries will continue to develop and will achieve new 
success for the benefit of our two peoples."  On February 8, 
Serzh Sargsyan traveled with a delegation of Armenian defense 
officials to Tehran at the invitation of Iran National 
Security Secretary General Hassan Rouhani.  At the time, 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Iran Desk Officer Hasmik 
Dashtoyan told us Sargsyan "wanted to visit Iran before the 
elections, in order to reinforce the Armenia-Iran strategic 
partnership." 
 
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ENERGY/TRADE AT ROOT OF PUBLIC/PRIVATE CONTRADICTIONS 
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5. (C) Armenian energy insecurity, exacerbated by recent fuel 
shortages (ref. A), wholesale dependence on Russian control 
of Armenia's national power grid (ref B), and Russian gas 
supplies (ref E), is driving this push to diversify Armenia's 
energy sources and suppliers.  As Movsesyan has told us, 
Armenia's number one energy priority was to complete the 
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, which will reduce dependence on 
Russia and on the single poorly-maintained Gazprom pipeline 
through Georgia. 
 
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COMMENT:  IRANIAN-ARMENIAN TIES DEEPENING? 
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6. (C) Armenia's failure to condemn Ahmadi-Nejad's October 25 
call to "wipe Israel off the map" -- even when traditional 
ally Russia had already taken that step -- illustrates the 
government's commitment to developing relations with Iran, no 
matter what the cost.  We have again registered with our GOAM 
interlocutors the importance of delivering a strong message 
of caution against extremism -- if not publicly then at least 
privately -- to the Iranians.  We should not set great store 
by either their willingness to go to bat on this issue or 
their potential effectiveness even were they to do so. 
EVANS