Armenians are always dismayed to encounter propaganda that distorts our relationship with Iran in order to damage our friendship with the Jewish people. Alas, this happened again last week in an August 7 op-ed in The Jerusalem Post containing the damaging and scandalous false claim that Armenia and Iran had signed a $500 million arms deal.
The claim was flatly denied over two weeks ago by Armenia’s Defense Ministry, whose representative called it “fiction.” Nevertheless, the oped by Mordechai Kedar presents such a deal as fact, citing Iran International, and ignores the denial.
This kind of gaslighting is not new to us. There are forces in the world that seek to drive a wedge between Armenians and Jews. They spread fake news about supposed antisemitism in Armenia; they seek to rile up Armenians about Israel’s own (undeniably devastating) arms supplies to Armenia’s aggressive neighbor Azerbaijan.
And yet, beyond the false and the quotidian, Jews and Armenians should be close friends and, in many cases, indeed, share a deep and abiding affinity.
We have a considerable shared history, including the common tragic experience of suffering from genocide. We are both democracies with the like-mindedness of non-Muslim peoples and ancient civilizations in the wider Middle East region. Armenians have a 1,700-year history in the Holy Land specifically – reflected in the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem – which can serve as a true bridge between Israel and not just our own church but Christianity itself, for we have no attachment to the conflict roiling the region.
Moreover, Armenia is currently undergoing a dramatic shift toward a Western orientation, moving closer to the United States and perhaps even to European Union membership after years of reliance on Russia. That, too, is a point of commonality: a shared close affinity with the US, where we both have large and dynamic diasporas. The commonalities are overwhelming.
Previous reports of Armenia's trade with Iran
Meanwhile, Armenia does have trade with Iran. In 2022, Iran exported just over a half billion dollars worth of energy, commodities, and goods. That is about 4% of our overall imports – not huge, but not insignificant. But please, consider the context.
Armenia’s commercial ties with Iran are not a matter of choice but of necessity, dictated by the realities of geography and geopolitics. Landlocked and isolated by hostile neighbors, Armenia’s options for trade partnerships are limited. To the west lies Turkey, which has imposed a blockade since 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. To the east is Azerbaijan, with which Armenia has been in a state of conflict for decades. Iran is thus one of the few viable gateways to the outside world, offering a crucial lifeline for trade and energy.
Given its precarious situation, Armenia does not have the luxury of choosing its partners based on ideological alignment or convenience. Iran, despite its contentious international standing, provides Armenia with access to goods and markets that are otherwise quite difficult to attain and essentially to a small but rapidly developing economy.
It is important to emphasize that Armenia harbors no illusions about the nature of the Iranian regime. But Armenians are aware – as are many Israelis with a memory of the period before 1979 – that the Iranian people are the inheritors of a great and vibrant civilization.
One day all of us – Iranians, Jews, and Armenians – will be able to celebrate our ancient civilizations and modern achievements together. Here’s hoping that the day comes soon.
The writer is a former Armenian ambassador to the United States and past deputy foreign minister.