Iran expands its influence: A major deal with Armenia raises concerns in Israel

In recent days, Iran has announced a comprehensive economic cooperation plan with Armenia, which is causing concern in Israel and the West.

“Iran has planned cooperation with Armenia amounting to approximately $3 billion, and we are confident that we will move in that direction. We are determined to utilize all available potential,” stated Iran’s ambassador to Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani.

Armenia-Iran trade volume in 2023 was only $693 million, and the sudden Tehran’s readiness to increase it 4.5 times worries the experts.

As the Israeli Alma Institute reported, Armenia is functioning as a transit point in Iran’s air route to Syria and Lebanon. The report stated that Iran is using Armenia “not only to undermine Azerbaijan—an ally of Israel—but also to assist in the transfer of military equipment to Syria and then to Lebanon, emphasizing that ‘Iranian efforts in both arenas work against Israel.'”

According to Iran International, a secret arms deal worth half a billion dollars was recently signed between Iran and Armenia. Farzin Nadimi, a weapons expert from the Washington Institute, said: “Iran has sold drones to Armenia before, but not at this scale.”

Knesset member Simon Moshiashvili (Shas) warned the Israeli Foreign Ministry about the emerging alliance. In his letter, he noted that the arms deal “includes intelligence cooperation and the establishment of Iranian bases in Armenia, and according to experts, this may serve Iran not only as a response to the strategic ties between Azerbaijan and Israel but also for hostile activities.”

At the same time, there has been a reported rise in antisemitic incidents in Armenia. The only synagogue in the country has been attacked at least four times since October 2023. Some of the attacks were carried out by the youth wing of ASALA, an Armenian paramilitary movement that promised “to continue their fight against the Zionists, while supporting ‘brothers’ from Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Moshiashvili called to protect the Jews of Armenia, asking whether Israel is following Armenia’s apparent convergence with the Iranian “axis of evil.”

Experts are calling on Israel to increase its monitoring of the growing ties between Yerevan and Tehran. There is a large Armenian community living in Israel, some members of which are currently leading an overtly anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian campaign about the “occupation of Armenian Jerusalem.”

Simultaneously, there is a trickle of articles in Israeli media, that completely deny Iran-Armenia convergence and spiking antisemitism. “The remarkable similarity between this and Russia’s campaign to influence European countries and Israel is too significant for Israeli security services to ignore,” warned one expert.