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USA SAID TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON ARMENIAN FIRMS OVER IRAN

Official

As Armenian National Information Center of America informed, the United States intends to impose sanctions on Armenian companies suspected of helping Iran acquire weapons of mass destruction, reports from Washington said on Wednesday.

Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed senior American official as saying that the administration of President George W. Bush has decided to impose sanctions on Chinese, Armenian and Moldovan companies under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. The sanctions are imposed because of "weapons transactions with Iran" - part of what Bush calls the "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea, said the official, adding that the U.S. Congress would be formally notified soon of the decision.

But an official in the U.S. embassy in Yerevan effectively denied the report, arguing that American diplomatic missions abroad are normally informed beforehand by Washington in such circumstances. "I find it very difficult to believe it because we have no such information," he said.

Armenian officials could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The U.S. official cited by Reuters did not disclose the names or numbers of the companies affected nor the exact nature of their activities. The official said the entities to be sanctioned are engaged in activities prohibited by multilateral export control lists which seek to curb the transfer of longer-range missiles and prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons. He said companies and individuals in Moldova and Armenia may be a "front" for Russian entities that have long engaged in arms trade with Iran.

Armenia and Iran have agreed recently to begin bilateral military cooperation, which they said will cement their close political ties and promote stability in the region. A joint memorandum of understanding was signed in Yerevan on March 4 by the defense ministers of the two neighbouring states. It remained unclear, however, what concrete forms their planned military ties will take.

Speaking to RFE/RL as recently as last week, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, said his country does not object to Armenia's close ties with Iran, but expects Yerevan's support in countering Tehran's "support for terrorism." "We certainly look to Armenia for support in our efforts to deny Iran the means to acquire the weapons of mass destruction as well as to speak out against Iran's support for terrorism, which has a particularly insidious impact on the Middle East peace process," he said.