ArmInfo. Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan is able to close the borders with Iran. Moreover, both conflicting countries have very solid reasons for this, Thomas de Waal, a British expert on the Karabakh conflict, senior fellow with Carnegie Europe, specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region expressed similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"In this light, I was very seriously surprised by Yerevan statements made by the adviser to the President of the United States on National Security, John Bolton. Armenia is a country that has open borders only with Georgia and Iran. And in my opinion, Yerevan will not close them hoping for soonest settlement of Karabakh conflict and opening border with Turkey. The Karabakh conflict is still difficult to resolve. And Armenia needs an open border in the south, at least, until its full settlement, "the expert said.
On October 24-26, a delegation of the US State Department headed by presidential Adviser on National Security John Bolton visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The visit was preceded by Bolton talks in Moscow. Among other issues, the American diplomat raised the issue of Armenian-Iranian relations, actually calling on Yerevan to join the US policy aimed at the international isolation of Iran.
According to expert estimates, the South Caucasus will be able to fulfill the existing great potential only after settling long-standing conflicts on its territory. After which it will become a real, efficient crossroad for Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Russia.
"It seems to me that people living in the Caucasus understand each other very well, despite all the conflicts. In my opinion, in this light, the European Union can still do a lot to encourage dialogue and cooperation in this region. However, interest in such processes still should proceed primarily from the region itself. Unlike China, the EU's interest in the Caucasus is rather altruistic, while Beijing pursues purely economic interests in the region and, apparently, builds far-reachingeopoliticheskie plans ", Thomas de Waal concluded.