In case of war with Iran Southern Caucasus will be drawn into conflict, experts assert

A possible warfare launched against Iran will throw the development of Southern Caucasus back for many years; the tension is already telling on the attractiveness of economic projects. This was stated by the participants of the video bridge "Moscow – Astana – Yerevan" that was held on February 25 in Moscow in the presence of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Western countries suspect Iran of designing nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear programme; while the Iranian party insists that the only aim of the programme is to satisfy the country's power needs.

There is a fear in Armenia that in case of the West-Iran conflict Azerbaijan will attack Armenia, said Sevak Sarukhanyan, the head of the centre for Political Studies under the "Noravank" Scientific-Educational Foundation.

"However, it's more probable that the conflict will cause huge problems for Azerbaijan, since millions of Turk refugees will rush there," said the expert.

Vardan Voskanyan, Deputy Dean of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Yerevan State University, has drawn attention to economic implications of the conflict. Under his estimate, Iran is economic-wise a very important country for Armenia. In case of war, Armenia will in fact occur in the frontline, as it borders on Iran.

Experts are rather sceptical as to any possibility of a full-fledged dialogue on the nuclear programme between Iran and countries of the West, pointing to the distrust of the parties in each other.