ArmeniaNow  --  News agencies report that Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Israel last week to discuss the issues on a possible attack against Iran.

Dempsey made it clear that “the USA is asking Israel not to act independently against Iran. However, obviously, nothing is reported on whether a strike is on its way or not.

How can active hostilities against Iran reflect on Armenia?

The prospect of building a railway connecting Armenia with Iran and ports of the Indian ocean, is of exceptional importance to Armenia. The final agreement on the construction was reached in 2007.

The project feasibility study has been carried out on laying a railroad bed (540 km long., with some 460 on the territory of Armenia; the most probable route would be Gagarin-Gavar-Martuni-Jermuk-Vayk-Sisian-Kapan-Meghri, and the Iranian sector would reach Merant station). This project of highest importance would be under threat.

Armenia and Iran have also taken up another major project – oil pipeline construction from Iranian town of Tabriz to Armenian Yeraskh station. Naturally, the project would “freeze”, too.

A hard blow might be delivered at the prospects of steady exploitation of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, the first section of which was launched in March of 2007 in border town Agarak in the presence of presidents of both countries.

The significance of that gas pipeline cannot be overestimated, if we recall the long way that project had to cross starting form 1992; it allows to bring down to a minimum Armenia’s dependence on the otherwise only source of natural gas supply – from Russia through the territory of unstable Georgia.

And besides, in the event of certain developments, Tehran might lose its place of “strong factor” in the Islamic world. Suffice it to say that it was the Iranian strong factor that prevented the Azeri and Turkish efforts of 1991-1994 from declaring jihad to Armenians in all the Muslim world and give the Karabakh issue a religious coloring.

Hence, any form of aggression against Iran is capable of freezing all the projects, not to mention the political consequences in case if more radical scenarios take place. But will their really be a war?

Iran found itself in an equally complicated situation in 2004-2005, when almost on a daily basis “exact dates” of strikes were announced. China and Russia – permanent members of UN Security Council having the right to veto - played a decisive role back then in relieving the tensions.

In 2004, a historical agreement was signed between Beijing and Tehran on hydrocarbons, right after which China declared it would not support UN Security Council’s actions against Iran’s nuclear energy plan. Russia, too, stated its objections against such a resolution.

Presently Beijing’s and Moscow’s positions might prove to be just as decisive.