Aviation, Infrastructure, and the Election Campaign: How Does the Iran War Affect Armenia?

Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Khalil Shirgholami said, “We have expressed our opinion on this in the past and said that we are not against developing Armenia’s potential as a transit route. We have also discussed lifting the blockade, the North-South route, and connecting the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf with the Armenian authorities. We have also expressed concern about whether this will create security problems.”

Nearly nine months have passed since Trump signed a declaration in Washington about the road, which aims to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave, but it is still unclear what the route of the road will be or who will ultimately build it. Everything depends on the outcome of the Iran war.

However, predictions continue to be made in Armenia about the Armenia’s European future, its relations with Russia and about war and peace.

During the recent Putin-Pashinyan meeting in the Kremlin, the Russian leader made it clear that Armenia cannot sit on two chairs simultaneously.

“Simultaneous membership in the Customs Union with the European Union and the EAEU is impossible; it is simply untenable by definition. The issue is not even a political one; it is purely economic. Some matters require extensive collaborative efforts that must be undertaken over years. These include differences in the evaluation of specific product groups, their market entry, and phytosanitary supervision for agricultural products. Russia and the European Union have entirely different, markedly divergent requirements concerning phytosanitary matters,” said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Ahead of the elections in the summer, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “happy bus” is traveling through the cities of Armenia, and he is shaking people’s hands and getting to know their problems. Billboards with portraits of his electoral rival Samvel Karapetyan are installed in large cities of Armenia, and the latter’s nephew Narek Karapetyan is holding a rally in Yerevan’s Freedom Square. Everyone is talking about peace, the development of the country, and everyone is convinced that the program they are proposing is the best. At the same time, there is noticeable indifference among ordinary people, who are really exhausted by all this. “Whoever it is, it doesn’t matter. I have to solve my own problems,” they would say.