Before the elections, Nikol Pashinyan promised that immediately after being elected, he would go to Moscow and in a few days he would solve all the problems related to the export of Armenian goods to the Russian market.

1 month after the elections, after all, Nikol Pashinyan went to Russia, participated in the international industrial exhibition held in Yekaterinburg, met with the Russian Prime Minister (the meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin did not take place), but the Russian market, as before, remains inaccessible for Armenian products.

Despite this, Nikol Pashinyan assures that agreements have been reached within the framework of EAEU regarding the lifting of restrictions for Armenia. And what arrangements are we talking about, he avoids detailing.

Nikol Pashinyan, who is ready to present the non-existent thing as a reality, is extremely tight-lipped regarding the agreements reached during his visit to Russia and meetings. Not only was he in no hurry to please his electorate with the results of the visit, but he is also in no hurry to reveal the agreements reached. He says that it is too early to publish concrete results before their practical implementation begins.

What is the reason for Nikol Pashinyan’s caution is not known. But his behavior proves that the agreements reached are very fragile, and it is not clear when they will be implemented.

And until then, producers continue to suffer big losses. Attempts are being made to deliver Armenian agricultural products to other markets, but the results are very small. After the closure of the Russian market, Armenia managed to export barely a few hundred tons of pepper, a few hundred tons of tomatoes, a few hundred tons of cherries, and so on. Last year, when there were no problems related to the export to the Russian market, the exports of these and other agricultural products reached thousands, even tens of thousands of tons.

Even government subsidies do not change much. In June, they spent 3.1 billion drams on subsidizing exports, but there are no tangible results.

And while they are unable to solve the problems of exporting Armenian products in other markets, Nikol Pashinyan invented something new. He says that we have a large flow of passengers to Armenia, those people come and consume Armenian agricultural products inside. It also exports.

It seems that before, tourists did not come to Armenia and did not consume agricultural products, only this year, by eating apricots, tourists have become “exporters” of apricots.

It is also not the case that this year we have such huge flows of tourists that eating apricots in Armenia, they started to “export” apricots in larger quantities. This is also where Nikol Pashinyan manipulates reality.

Since the agricultural harvest season starts mostly in June, here are the tourism figures for June. In June of this year, 216,214 tourists came to Armenia. In the same month last year, 215,253 tourists came.

The number of tourists increased by only 961 compared to last year.

Where are those large passenger flows that Nikol Pashinyan is talking about?

Even if they were, no tourist consumption can replace real exports. The fact shows that at the moment the potential market for the export of Armenian agricultural products is Russia. But the Russian market remains closed for Armenian agricultural products, even after Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to the Russian Federation and the “confidential” agreements reached.

Until the attitude of the Armenian authorities on some sensitive issues changes, no agreement will become a reality. Apart from the well-known contradictions related to foreign orientations, during the meeting with Nikol Pashinyan, the Russian Prime Minister made it very clear that the attitude of the authorities towards the Russian business operating in Armenia is not acceptable for Russia, that the rights and legal interests of the Russian business must be respected.

“It is important that the Armenian government continues to create a comfortable environment for Russian investors and ensure that their rights and legitimate interests are respected,” the Russian Prime Minister stated without further ado.

Who was the Russian Prime Minister referring to by this? To get the answer to this question, it is necessary to see which Russian investors’ rights and legal interests are not respected in Armenia.

It is obvious that it first of all refers to the HEC. Although HETC belongs to the big Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, in this case we are dealing with Russian capital. Everyone knows what artificial problems the Armenian authorities have created in connection with the HEP, by what means they are trying to take it away from the owner, to what extent the investor’s rights and legal interests have been preserved.

There are other companies with the participation of Russian capital, for which the authorities are trying to create problems. One of those companies is the railway, which has been handed over to the Russian concession management, but the authorities, for various reasons, intend to take back the concession and hand it over to another country.

It is difficult to say to what extent the concerns voiced regarding the protection of the rights and interests of Russian capital were acceptable to the Armenian side. But it is a fact that immediately after the return of Nikol Pashinyan from Russia, the process of recognizing the ETC as a priority interest was postponed.

Could these two circumstances be directly related to each other, of course, it is impossible to rule it out. But time will tell.

Time will also show what “confidential” agreements Nikol Pashinyan has reached regarding the lifting of restrictions on the export of Armenian agricultural products in Russia, which he stubbornly avoids making public, despite the fact that thousands of producers are eagerly waiting for it.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

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What did Aliyev say that went unnoticed in our public arena? Azerbaijani scholar Tatevik Hayrapetyan wrote about this.

“On July 13, “The mission of the SLMs in the promotion of peace. under the funny and sarcastic title “restoration of truth and restoration of trust”, several foreign journalists gathered together with Aliyev in occupied Shushi and had a discussion. This discussion lasted about three hours. Since I like to read and study the whole thing before commenting, that’s why I’m addressing this topic now that I’ve done it.

In our public sphere, the parts that were about the OSCE Minsk Group were very actively discussed, in particular, that Aliyev complained that he was not given what he wanted. That is exactly how it is. comparing the statements of both Aliyev and Pashinyan, it becomes obvious that both were dissatisfied with the proposals. one because he wanted to take over everything, the other because he wanted to get us out of the “conflict” trap, free us from the “burden” again. As a result, everyone got what they wanted. one, completely ethnically cleansed Armenians from their ancestral land, their home and place, and the other freed us from the “leash” of Artsakh. If in the case of the first one, i.e. Aliyev, it worked in favor of Azerbaijan, then in our case, it is almost the same if one has two children, one of them has some health problems, the doctors say, long treatment is expected, they say, no, give it at once, they say, kill, end this story, and then say, I did it for my other child so that he can live well. Anyway, let’s leave this immorality aside.

Aliyev also did not hide his intense displeasure with some European institutions, he was particularly upset with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, Joseph Borel. “This is a big chain of anti-Azerbaijani group that existed in the European Commission. But it’s good that Mr. Borrell is out of politics now, hopefully forever…” Aliyev said. By and large, he was satisfied with the work with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. He was very upset with some European structures, especially the Council of Europe, regarding which he said: “If Azerbaijan completely withdraws from the Council of Europe, no one in the country will even notice it. So being there or not doesn’t change much here…” In fact, he says very correctly. for the people of dictatorial Azerbaijan, the presence in those structures does not change anything, it doesn’t matter, they are caught immediately if they suddenly dare to criticize the dictator.

As for the USA, of course, he did not hesitate to remember Biden “badly” and glorify Trump. Nevertheless, it was not surprising to call TRIP “Zangezur Corridor”.

He made quite bold statements regarding Russia, including regarding Ukraine, because until now, by and large, he has digested his behavior, including toward Russian peacekeepers.

And the most remarkable part, in my opinion, was related to the topic of gas. “Thus, the expansion of the existing transport infrastructure is necessary, but the obstacle is the European Green Agenda and European banks do not want to finance fossil fuel projects. Therefore, the question arises as to where to borrow to expand the pipeline capacity. Another issue, probably more important, is long-term contracts. And this is what we discussed with Madame Ursula von der Leyen, that we need long-term contracts. Because in order to significantly increase production, we need to invest a lot, and if at a certain point we are told: “Thank you, goodbye, we don’t need your gas anymore”, so what are we going to do…” This was a very interesting admission about the uncertain future of Azerbaijani gas, and this is not the first time that he has complained about the lack of investment. In my opinion, this topic is very underestimated by us in the context of our future calculations.

His very jealous attitude towards the topic of building an AI factory in Armenia was also noteworthy, which is not the first time it has been shown.

In fact, there was a lot of material, in many ways a more in-depth analysis is needed, but I will summarize my post with Aliyev’s most unique confession. “Human rights issues are universal issues…” It is a very correct point, that’s why one day they will be reminded of this statement.

And at the end of his speech, he advised not to give up, to fight, not to put up with failures and to keep in mind that when you make yourself dependent on other power centers, then you remain a prisoner of their decisions made about you… Of course, even if it is made by the enemy, this is good advice, especially for the “Demolish the State” party, which depends on Azerbaijan,” he wrote.

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On July 6 we wrote, in the aviation units of the Air Force of Azerbaijan were held training exercises. In particular, flights were carried out by JF-17C (Block III), L-39, Su-25ML and Su-25 aircraft.

During the exercise, the pilots made individual and group flights, improving the skills of interaction in the airspace, the implementation of routine combat tasks and tactical maneuvers, target detection and destruction, and making the right decisions in special situations.

At the same time, attention was paid to the accurate and safe performance of tasks in different meteorological and tactical conditions, to the improvement of combat capabilities of aviation equipment.

Let’s remind that Azerbaijan acquired JF-17C fighters from Pakistan. Lately we have touched on About the long-term goals of Baku’s purchase of JF-17 fighter jets from Pakistan and how it relates to Armenia?

And? L-39 is Czech is a production aircraft, the Su-25 is a Russian attack aircraft, the Su-25ML is its upgraded version. We will touch on the topic of Su-30 modernization.

Before that, let’s note that on July 17, how? we get informed azerbaijani from the media, Aviation units of the Air Force of Azerbaijan again conducted training exercises using JF-17C (Block III), L-39, Su-25ML and Su-25 aircraft, complex piloting and combat maneuvers were performed at different altitudes.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan talks about the high professionalism of their pilots during the training exercises, but at the same time, the Azerbaijani media they report that an Azerbaijani soldier, Alekper Rizvan oglu Guliyev, died during the training exercise, his parachute did not open during the flight. Of course, this could be purely an accident due to technical reasons.

At the time of writing the article, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan had not released any message regarding the mentioned case, despite the fact that Alekper Rizvan oglu Guliyev participated in both the 2020 44-day war and the September 2023 military aggression and ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. This is just additional information, and now, as we mentioned, we turn to the modernization of Su-25 fighters.

Still two years ago we wrote that Azerbaijan is modernizing the Soviet Su-25 fighters in its arsenal with the participation of the Turkish company TUSAŞ.

Moreover, we have informed also, that the Azerbaijani attackers were armed with Turkish SOM ŞAHİN cruise missiles, the flight range of which is more than 250 km. We wrote that the modernization contract between the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan and the Turkish company has been sealed on July 26, 2023, and that Azerbaijan will also receive “smart” aerial bombs and Turkish missiles.

And now Azerbaijani poliqon.az specialized website spread information that the delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan Mehman Bakhishov made an official visit to Georgia and held talks with the Minister of Defense of Georgia Irakli Chikovani, Deputy Ministers of Defense Davit Kupatadze and Grigol Giorgadze, as well as the Director General of the State Military Scientific and Technical Center “Delta” Davit Akhvlediani.

In addition, within the framework of the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation visited the “Delta” military scientific and technical center, “Delta-VB” company and the Tbilisi Aircraft Building Joint-Stock Committee, where the officials got acquainted with the main directions of the enterprises’ activities, production capacities and leading technological solutions. In other words, Azerbaijan and Georgia are thinking about new cooperation projects in the field of defense industry.

Let us know that “Delta-VB” is a Georgian-Polish company, which develops and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles.

Tbilisi Aircraft Joint Stock Committee (actually Tbilisi Aviation factory, is known as TAM or “Tbilaviamsheni”) is engaged in the overhaul and modernization of military aircraft (mainly Su-25 attack fighters) and helicopters (Mi-8, Mi-24).

In other words, Azerbaijan, which has already modernized a large number of Su-25 fighters in its arsenal through a leading Turkish company, today considers that it can also cooperate with Georgia in this field.

And here the question arises: is Armenia considering the modernization of the Su-25 bombers in the arsenal of the RA army in cooperation with the Georgian side, or has there ever been a relevant discussion in meetings with the defense departments, especially when the question is whether the contract for the modernization and repair of the Su-25 aircraft between the RA Defense Ministry and the United Aircraft Construction Company of Russia on August 24, 2020 has been implemented, maybe not.

We have repeatedly tried to get information about this contract and the modernization of Su-25s from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, but they refused, referring to the legal regulations on state and military secrets. And if we now try to find out through a written inquiry whether there was a discussion on this issue with Georgia, naturally we will get the same answer, in any case, we will try to get some information about this in any way.

Let us add that in June of this year, the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Zakir Hasanov also visited Georgia, he visited a number of local military facilities. And before that, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan visited Georgia, and we did we touched on and in this case, the importance of the visit was emphasized from the point of view of the settlement of logistical problems in the supply of weapons.

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President of the Caucasus Muslim Department, Sheikhulislam Allahshukyur Pashazaden, organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Angola at the event speaking about the need to settle the current and Russian-Ukrainian conflicts in the Middle East, this time he did not bypass the Armenians, he drew the attention of the participants of the summit dedicated to Armenia and peace to the “Khojalu Genocide” and claimed that “the Azerbaijani people were victims of a mass massacre”.

“The international community should know this terrible truth and give a fair assessment to the Khojaly Genocide.”

Today, when wars continue in the world, we must, relying on international law, work and pray for the victory of justice and lasting peace, and not for fragile ceasefire regimes, as well as for the peaceful settlement of conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine,” he stated, adding that “mass murders, committed on national, racial and religious grounds, and forever etched in the memory of mankind, are among the greatest and unforgivable against people or humanity. among crimes”.

And this is said by the spiritual leader of a country that has done what is described here to Armenians on national and religious grounds. It is enough to mention the Baku, Sumgait pogroms, Maragha genocide, which Baroness Caroline Cox called “20th century Calvary”, the ethnic cleansing in Artsakh in September 2023 and the war crimes committed at various times before that. We are still not talking about the Armenian Genocide committed by Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

And this statement of Pashazade confirms ours the claim that Aliyev did not and will not remove the “Khojalu Genocide” issue from the political agenda, otherwise he would not have built a memorial, this also applies to the “Ganja incidents”.

The other day we wrote About the direct confessions from Baku that the struggle against Yerevan in the field of the Karabakh conflict is not over.

And the remarkable thing here is that, in particular, Pashazade’s statement will not be considered a cause of conflict by Aliyev, who is going with Armenia, while Nikol Pashinyan considers any question about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Armenia to be a cause of conflict. Moreover, in March of this year, Pashinyan during a briefing with journalists belligerent considered giving the name “Artsakh” sometimes during liturgies and prayers in the church.

“Regarding the question of why I say that the Church, Kprich Nersisyan and his group, took over the leadership of the war party, it has a very simple explanation. I go to liturgy and I see that during the liturgy they refer to the Republic of Artsakh and so on, and there is no such thing in the text of the liturgy, they deviate from the text of the liturgy. What does that mean, it means conflict, that is, we refer to the Republic of Artsakh and so on, it first means conflict, and then, if we adopt that theory, we have to go to conflict on the way of that theory, so how do we solve it?

Every such sentence means a call to war: today, tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, I don’t know, but it means a call to war. When they say: Republic of Artsakh from every pulpit, they have stepped on the road to war.

Every time we say this, Azerbaijan, in its turn, develops its speech. They say: return, what kind of return, where to return, is there a topic of return of refugees, but Azerbaijan is putting forward the same thing in the same way. Those topics will develop, develop, clash with each other and become a war,” Pashinyan stated, stressing that they decide the foreign policy and that the Declaration of Independence will not be referenced in the new Constitution.

And the Azerbaijani demand for the recognition of the “Khojalu Genocide” is absolutely not conditional on whether Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide will be talked about in Armenia, otherwise, we would see a completely different picture in a mirror manner, in line with or equivalent to the demands and speech of the RA authorities.

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We notice the problems in the political field more, because we feel them on our skin, but the roots of the problem are deep, if, of course, we want the regulation of human relations not to be based on political expediency, but on the right. Our society has not yet reached the level of awareness to put the right as the basis of regulation of its own behavior, and therefore it tries to fill that gap by realizing the will of the person who speaks pleasant words to his ear. 168TVof « expressed such an opinion during the program lawyer, former NA deputy Taron Simonyan.

“If today a part of the society demands the words of a person spreading aggression, he will turn a blind eye to the application of legal norms in one way or another. For him, the fact that, due to the revenge accumulated in him over the years, he attributes the reasons for the irregularity of his life to this or that person becomes paramount. “All this comes down to the fact that for him the discovery of the truth through law and justice is less important than achieving justice at once through blood, property deprivation or other possible methods of Bolshevism,” said the public figure.

“Stubborn and courageous citizens are the owners of their state, and if they see that the state is being destroyed, the Constitution is trampled underfoot, the right is being destroyed, they should also be able to take civil responsibility and say to the representatives of that same government: enough is enough, you were not elected to realize your own dreams or the failed achievements of your youth, but to protect the Constitution and the law. Under no circumstances, in any extreme situation, values ​​and professional morality cannot be trampled on,” said Taron Simonyan.

According to the lawyer, all possible persons, if they do not feel behind them such constitutional mechanisms that will restrain them from demonstrating illegal behavior, will continue the same behavior. “The head of today’s executive power can be made a decision and arrested not by a separate judge or prosecutor, but by an ordinary investigator. Such an opportunity is given in our Constitution, in our legislative system. The investigator has such power, but considers himself as a subordinate body.

“Any politician wants to have total control over all branches of the government. We ignore the right because we value our anger, hatred, hidden dissatisfaction more than it. We stepped on our dignity and morality. When we destroy the backbone, the core, the dignity that exists in every Armenian man and woman, he becomes a malleable, flexible phenomenon, therefore, he will adapt to any system that pleases him,” said Taron Simonyan.

Details in the video.

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“There is an Armenian folk saying: ‘If a man has a sword, he will make a sword on his head.’ Today, the European Union continues to buy Russian gas through the territory of Azerbaijan, for which it pays several times more. The EU has no opportunity to replace or diversify Armenia-Russia ties in the energy sector,” he said 168.amsaid in a conversation with Associate Professor of YSU International Relations and Diplomacy Chair, international scholar Grigor Balasanyan: talking about the promises of various high-ranking officials of the EU to provide various support to Armenia in the energy sector.

According to our interlocutor, Armenia is important for the EU and “has a place on the head” of EU officials to the extent that Armenia would like to be a part of their anti-Russian policy and the policy of pushing Russia out of the region.

“When Armenia declares that it is advancing its own national interests, which may not correspond to the interests of the EU, from that day Armenia will become an ordinary state in their eyes. At that time, the EU will not pin hopes on Armenia, as, for example, happened in the case of Georgia. That’s why I wouldn’t be so happy and excited about the visit of European officials of different caliber, for one simple reason. Those people who are coming to Armenia today will probably say goodbye to their positions by autumn. They are outgoing officials, and agreeing something with outgoing officials is just an adventure,” the international expert added.

According to his observation, first of all, it is necessary to understand who Ursula von der Leyen, Kaya Callas, what was the fate of Callas’s predecessor, Federica Mogherini, who is currently in prison, having been sentenced to 5 years in a bribery case.

“I think that the same thing threatens Kaya Kalas, these people, being in the business of bribery and bribery, are now trying to teach us some lessons and use Armenia for the purpose of spreading their Russophobia and anti-Russianness. This should not be in the interests of Armenia, it is not in our interests. Moreover, we should welcome the EU officials in Armenia with a smile and see them off with a smile, but not make any specific promises or agreements with them. Agreeing something with those people is already dangerous,” stressed Grigor Balasanyan.

To the question of what is expected of Armenia after the officials leave the EU, Grigor Balasanyan answered that there are solutions in any situation, for that, however, you need to have a professional team, including a team of professional diplomats.

“Officials of various calibers should be strictly prohibited from making cocky jokes and making anti-Russian statements in Armenia, now is not the time for that. Now is not the time to show “muscles”, especially since you don’t have those “muscles” and everyone knows about it. It is time to sit down and explain to our Russian partners the following: we are building our relations with the EU exclusively to improve and improve the quality of life in civil and social spheres in Armenia. However, from the economic point of view, the EU cannot be an alternative to the EAEU.

Moreover, the EU has a problem with Russia today, and Armenia can become a bridge for Russia and the EU. In addition, the reforms related to various sectors, which are needed by the Russian Federation, can be exported from Armenia to Russia through different channels. But as of now, deepening the crisis in relations with the Russian Federation and doing it through various officials is unacceptable. We must understand that the answer to any offensive statement is provided by Armenia and the citizens of Armenia,” Grigor Balasanyan emphasized.

Let’s remind that on July 2, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Armenia. During the meeting with Nikol Pashinyan in the government building, addressing the question of how the EU supports Armenia in the energy sector, he to say was.

“Armenia needs a strategic, multi-layered and comprehensive approach to the issue of energy carriers.

That is why a group of experts from the EU will arrive in Armenia next week, we have rich experience with such a situation in Ukraine, Moldova, we have gone through it, we have accumulated a lot of experience, we ourselves have faced problems in the EU. At the same time, we are investing in regional energy security, opening new energy interconnection routes and supporting the formation of stronger regional energy networks. 25 million is included in that program.

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In the early morning of July 18, the military operations carried out by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) entered a new and more comprehensive phase, leaving the borders of the Strait of Hormuz and spreading towards the central and southern regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The military campaign, now in its seventh day, is aimed at the systematic weakening of Iran’s military infrastructure, including surveillance and intelligence facilities, underground arsenals and naval capabilities. The operation, which included the use of both fighter jets and drones, essentially paralyzed strategic traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iranian missile strikes aimed at regional allies in the Persian Gulf.

Iranian state media confirmed the geographic expansion of the attacks, reporting strikes in Yazd, Ahvaz and Khuzestan provinces, as well as the destruction of infrastructure facilities, particularly bridges and airports, in southern Iran.

The situation is aggravated by Tehran’s harsh rhetoric. Major General Mohsen Rezai, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has announced the possibility of launching a large-scale offensive, noting that in the event of further military escalation, Iran will no longer be limited to its current countermeasures and that “no political border will be safe.” This statement indicates a qualitative change in the confrontation, where each side claims a strategic initiative, endangering the entire regional security architecture.

168.amin a conversation with Russian analyst Vladimir Yevseyev said that the continuation of military operations and the threat of Iran to go to “large-scale offensive operations” dictate two main scenarios for the escalation of the conflict. According to him, the first is the intensification of military conflicts involving the territory of the Persian Gulf states, which can lead to a collapse in the global energy market and large-scale regional instability. The second, according to him, is the activation by Iran of its “proxy” forces throughout the Middle East, which will force the US to expand the geography of its targets, threatening Tehran’s stability.

Vladimir Yevseyev believes that these processes are fraught not only with direct military losses, but also with the formation of new geopolitical alliances and active geopolitical processes.

“For the South Caucasus, this confrontation carries existential risks, given the close connection of the region with Iran. The deepening of the conflict could lead to a sharp shift of attention and resources from Iran’s southern borders to the north. Destabilization or military exhaustion of Iran will weaken its deterrent role in the South Caucasus. As a result, the region becomes a new theater of conflict between the interests of great powers, where the role of Iran as a reliable neighbor for Armenia may come under serious test. However, it is not excluded that Iran will also conduct a vigilant policy in this direction, taking into account all possible risks, including the risk that Iran sees with the future American presence in the South Caucasus,” said Vladimir Yevseyev.

According to him, the prolongation of this military conflict is limited by the internal political agenda of the USA, in particular, the upcoming elections, which make the confrontation with Iran sensitive for Washington.

“The White House needs to avoid getting involved in a large-scale and uncontrolled war that could significantly damage the standing of the ruling administration and destabilize global energy markets right before the vote. Therefore, the intensity of operations will most likely be for a limited period of time, which means that the security vacuum created for the South Caucasus or the weakening of Iran’s positions may not be a long-term strategic change, but a “managed crisis”.

However, even this short-term escalation is enough for regional actors to try to calculate their risks and make the most of Iran’s time under domestic pressure. Iran, of course, conducts a deterrent policy also in the South Caucasus, at the same time, it has prepared for a long-term positioning internally, realizing that it is not easy to reach agreements with the USA that will be long-lasting and stable,” said Vladimir Yevseyev.

As for the theme of restarting the “3 3” format, the analyst believes that there is nothing new about this issue.

“There is still no interest in the region to work in this format,” he said.

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