In the expert community of the region, a hot polemic around the mysterious visit of the Central Intelligence Directorate of William Burns in Yerevan was launched. The visit is actively discussed both in Armenia and in Russia, while completely polar versions are advanced. According to the published one version, the director of the CIA visited Yerevan in order to deliver a dossier in Iran. According to another version, the secret mission of William Burns is associated with the military support of the United States Armenia and revenge plans in Karabakh.
It should be noted that information about William Burns to Yerevan leaked to the press not from the US Embassy, but from the Russian Dip Department in Armenia. Protocol information about the meetings of the CIA director with Prime Minister Pashinyan and Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan was published. The Armenian press writes: Nikol Pashinyan himself and the American side preferred to remain a secret.
The confused situation exacerbates the unexpected voyage to Yerevan after the Burns of the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin. True, the head of Russian intelligence told reporters in Yerevan that his visit was in no way connected with the visit of the director of the CIA.
“My visit to Yerevan is definitely not connected with the arrival of my American colleague here. But I do not exclude that his visit is just connected with my agenda,” he said with a smile.
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“The visit of the heads of the US intelligence services and Russia to Yerevan should be considered in the context of Iran’s nuclear program. It is also possible that the United States and Russia decided to use Armenia to ensure technical communications. These are the most likely versions,” Kavkaz -Uzel said. EU Political scientist Suren Surens.
He believes that the visits of the heads of intelligence of the United States and Russia create additional risks for Armenia, which may be at the epicenter of the confrontation of the two countries.
“The main regional issue is Iranian. Even the Karabakh conflict is not considered a separate case. All events are developing around Iran, which is an extremely important country not only for the United States and Russia, but also for Saudi Arabia with Turkey. In all this mosaic, Iran – in all this mosaic. The cornerstone, on which the model of regional development and the new safety environment depends, ”said the political scientist.
However, the political assistant Naira Airumyan noted two main versions of the visit of the director of William Burns – the US attempt to find contacts and preparation for the probable renewal of the Iranian nuclear program. The visit of the Secretary of the Security Council of Iran Ali Shamhani to Yerevan and Baku, in her opinion, reinforced the latest version.
In her opinion, this is one of the parts of the regional puzzle, which gradually develops after the visits of Shamhani, Burns and Naryshkin.