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US State Department says Armenia is a country potentially vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing schemes

05 May 2008 08:24 (UTC +04:00)

The Armenia Report says: "Armeniaâ€™s warming relations with neighboring Iran continued, with Armenia hosting official visits by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October and Iranian Defense Minister Musrafa Mohammad Najjar in November. In addition to fostering closer diplomatic ties, these visits served to solidify previous bilateral commitments to develop joint energy and transportation projects. This closer cooperation has made Armenia more reluctant to criticize publicly objectionable Iranian conduct or join other UN member states in advocating for sanctions on the Iranian regime. Although Armenia continued to strengthen its counterterrorism capabilities and enhanced its counterterrorism cooperation with the United States and other international security organizations, its geographic location, porous borders, and loose visa regime still provided ample opportunities for traffickers of illicit materials, persons, and finances. Furthermore, endemic governmental corruption, a significant organized crime presence, and a large shadow economy made the country potentially vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing schemes."
Earlier White House and State Department stated that they were thinking about sanctions against Yerevan for its suspicious relations with Iranian officials.