YEREVAN. – It is hardly realistic to speak about the financial deals of Iran carried out through Armenia to bypass the international sanctions, economist Tatul Manaseryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am commenting on the publication posted by Reuters.

According to him, Armenia will hardly be able to replace the deals which Western banks carried out with Iran. In early August the British Standard Chartered bank was accused of making deals with Iran amounting to $250 billion, while the stocks of Armenian banks made only about $333 million last December.

Besides, Armenia is dynamically developing relations with many countries, even with Turkey, it is hardly realistic to speak about any deviations from the international norms, the expert concluded.

“Such developments will endanger Armenia’s relationship with the developing and developed states. Armenia’s relations with Iran were positively perceived by the world community. This is the reason that such projects as railway construction and gas pipeline, received no direct or indirect objection of the international community,” Manaseryan said.  

In an article “Iran looks to Armenia to skirt sanctions” Reuters cited the report by U.N. panel of experts that monitors compliance with the sanctions against Tehran. The report said Iran is seeking ways to bypass sanctions.

“One state bordering Iran informed the Panel of requests from Iran to open new financial institutions,” the agency cited the report. The article said several diplomats familiar with the report confirmed the state is Armenia.