Armenian minister concerned about possible US action against Iran

Arminfo
8 Feb 05

Yerevan, 8 February: The possible US preventive action against
Iran will have very undesirable consequences for the South Caucasus
region, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told students of
the department of international relations at Yerevan State University
today.

He recalled US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement
that the issue of starting hostilities against Iran is not on the
agenda of the USA’s foreign policy course. The US secretary of state’s
statement removes some of the worries, but some of her remarks are
still rather alarming as any military action against Iran will impact
negatively on the region, the Armenian foreign minister stressed.

Speaking about the possibility of Armenia being sidelined from regional
projects, such as the construction of Kars (Turkey) – Akhalkalaki
(Georgia) link and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Armenian
minister noted that steps should be taken to involve the country in the
regional projects. However, that should not damage national interests.

Vardan Oskanyan said that we should first take into account the price
the country pays for the participation in such projects and if the
price is too high, we should not get involved,

[Passage omitted: the minister comments on relations with Turkey,
covered by agency reports yesterday]