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Sabina Mammadli

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continuing for over a year now has not only had devastating consequences with thousands of military and civilian deaths and millions of refugees but also created new realities in the region, turning around the tables. Thus, in light of the new settings in the region, Armenia has taken a closer seat to its Western "allies", or so it wanted to present.

A Dublin-based EU Reporter media outlet carries an anonymous article on the topic of the Russia-Armenia-Iran alliance and its role in the Russian-Ukrainian war. To cite the publication, "Armenia serves as a major hub to supply sanctioned (including military) goods that support Russian aggression in Ukraine and provides the direct connection between Iran and Russia".

Besides, the author notes that the trade turnover between Iran and Armenia has increased largely against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Apparently, a significant chunk of this increase is due to the use of Armenian territory as a transshipment point for the transfer of sanctioned goods, weapons, and drones from Iran to Russia.

In response to these claims, Ukrainian military expert Vadim Tryukhan told Azernews in a comment that although there isn’t any evidence proving the role of Armenia in the military support of Russia on the battlefield or by ammunition supply, Iran, on the other part, has played its role in the war.

"Iran has made a decision many months ago to support Russia by supplying drones, so-called "Shaheds" of several modifications. And the Ukrainian army is forced to pay certain attention to the threatening of those drones, which are launched by Russia and with Iranian origin," the expert stated.

The expert also underlined that Armenia is trying to distance itself from Russia after the start of the invasion, noting that there are several examples when Armenian officials made decisions to reject the conduction of military exercises on its territory.

However, although Armenia does attempt to appear distant from Russia with the reemerged support from Iran and France, it still serves as one of the main distributors of sanctioned goods not only from Iran but also from the West. Besides, the pro-Russian protests on the streets of Yerevan demonstrate Armenia’s double strategy of trying to get two birds stoned at once.

Similarly, the article touches upon the mutual support between Iran and Armenia, noting the visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's wife Anna Hakobyan to Tehran amidst the spiraling human rights crisis.

In fact, Russia was not the only one using Iranian-made drones in its war. Armenia itself has confirmed that Iran had delivered attack drones and donated missiles to Armenians. Moreover, some sources report that Armenian forces allegedly used Iran-made drones in yesterday's border clashes with the Azerbaijani military.

To recap, while playing the double game between Russia and the West, Yerevan does hold Iran as a particularly close ally.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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