Armenians are increasingly frustrated at Western inaction in the face of ethnic cleansing. Just five days before Azerbaijani forces moved to snuff out militarily Armenian self-rule in Nagorno-Karabakh, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim declared to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “We will not tolerate any attack on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.” Yet tolerate the Biden administration did. In the wake of the Azerbaijani move that sent more than 100,000 of the region’s indigenous Armenians packing, the State Department did little more than issue perfunctory condemnation.

The reason for inaction is multi-fold. The United States is distracted elsewhere. The speed of the Azerbaijani action created a fait accompli. There is widespread misunderstanding about Armenia’s geopolitical orientation. As Azerbaijan cultivates an image of being pro-Western and pro-Israeli, Armenia has maintained close relations with both Russia and Iran. While a sense of betrayal inside Armenia has led the country to pivot quickly away from Russia, what is the reality of Armenia-Iran ties?

Armenia does have ties to Iran. In 2021, Armenia-Iran trade amounted to $471 million annually, an amount less than the total United States trade with Aruba. Context matters, though. Armenia’s trade with Iran is equivalent to Azerbaijan’s trade with the Islamic Republic. In recent years, though, it appears Azerbaijan’s trade has grown as the regime of President Ilham Aliyev regime’s entrance into a gas swap and trade scheme with Iran. Turkey’s trade with Iran, meanwhile, is approximately $6.4 billion and growing. Put another way, Turkey’s trade with Iran is equivalent to the entire budget of Armenia.

Read the full article on The National Interest.