Washington's planned move - slap in the face of Yerevan, pro-Armenian lobbyists Disgruntled Menendez silenced in Senate debate

A momentous event for us and a slap in the face of Armenians and their lobbyists: the US wants to exclude Azerbaijan from Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. The State Department has already reached such a decision, and the attempt of the Armenian lobbyists in the US Senate to block it failed. US interests undoubtedly played a major role in such a turn of events, but this time they harmoniously coincide with the interests of Azerbaijan. And one of the important reasons for Washington to support our country is the growing confrontation with the Iranian-Armenian clique in the region.

Hysteria over the repeal of the 907th amendment for Baku will surely hit the whole Armenian community, especially Yerevan since it means that Washington will be able to officially provide Azerbaijan with any kind of financial assistance and even deliver its military-technical equipment directly.

As we know, the 907th amendment was adopted by Congress in 1992 and banned the US administration's government aid to Baku in connection with the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Congress passed the Foreign Operations, Export Finance and Related Programs Appropriations Act, granting the president the authority to waive Amendment 907. In particular, every year the US State Department has decided to temporarily suspend Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. The decision to fully exempt Azerbaijan from this unjust and hasty decision, taken on the wave of Armenian lobbyism in the 1990s, now opens up entirely new prospects for cooperation between Washington and Baku.

As expected, a big fight broke out in the US Senate: Armenian lobbyists rushed to the battle to protect the interests of their wards. And they got what they deserved. The face of a disgruntled Menendez has already become a meme on the internet.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, sought to explain the State Department's decision to exempt Azerbaijan from Amendment 907, clarifying that there was "nothing automatic" in the State Department's action.

However, the permanent, you could say, an in-house lobbyist for Armenians, Senate Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, said he was categorically against American aid to Azerbaijan, much less in the security field, and that such a conclusion by the State Department seemed ill-conceived. "Can we say that Azerbaijan is not benefiting from the assistance we are giving it in a way that gives it a distinct advantage over Armenia in terms of its military pledges? Impossible. You can't sit here with an honest face and say that," an Armenian lobbyist tried to push his way through.

Hearing Donfriуd's assurance that the State Department considers such matters "with great caution", Menendez lost his temper and tried to reason with Donfried.

"I have a lot of respect for you, but I lose confidence in you when you make such statements," Menendez addressed her, not without implication. To which he received an unapologetic reply that forced the lobbyist to calm down. Donfried reminded Menendez of the US national interest and essentially made it clear that the topic is closed and Armenians shouldn't count on Washington's goodwill on this issue.

"I want to make it clear that I believe that assistance to Azerbaijan meets the interests of US national security, so we are providing non-lethal border security equipment that is producing significant results in countering the transnational threats from Iran and disrupting smuggling routes into the South Caucasus and into Russia and Europe. And I believe this will support border security," Donfried said firmly.

Not knowing how to object to this, Menendez sadly remarked: "And also allow Azerbaijan to violate Armenia's actual borders...".

Thus, as we can conclude from the words of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, Washington intends to provide Azerbaijan with solid support to secure its border with Iran, and the objections of any lobbyists will not matter.

And this strategy of Washington towards Baku is not spontaneous at all, as Armenians-backed Menendez tried to portray. Every position in the document is thought out and weighed. It also testifies to the fact that the US actively lobbies for the conclusion of the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, as suggested, by the way, by Blinken's recent phone calls to Aliyev and Pashinyan. Most importantly, Washington resents the Iranians-Armenian bromance and will do everything it can to sever this explosive link. This means it is not only unwise but also dangerous to facilitate any form of geopolitical strengthening of Armenia, which no longer hides its aggressive aspirations from the world.

But Washington can pay much more attention to Azerbaijan.

Another fact must have been taken into account in the US: Armenia is by no means suspending economic cooperation with Russia, but on the contrary, it is increasing economic cooperation, becoming a real business hub for Russian companies, which are under American and European sanctions. The US has already punished Armenian business structures for this and continues to do so, revealing more and more sensational facts of grandiose shady commodity turnover and black financial schemes between Armenia and Russia.

Today, Washington's pressure on Yerevan is already direct. Suffice it to recall Secretary of State Blinkin's recent call to Pashinyan, urging him to be more active in signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

Commenting on decisions by the US State Department and the defeat of Armenian lobbyists in the Senate, Azerbaijani political analyst and Milli Majlis MP Rasim Musabekov told Caliber.Az that he has no doubt that all attempts by Menendez and his ilk were doomed to failure.

"Bob Menendez is an old and stubborn Armenian lobbyist. But it is the White House who decides, and they know how to separate American interests from the Armenian lobbyist cravings. In the meantime, $100 million is allocated for Azerbaijan in the Pentagon budget," the political analyst stressed.

In his words, Karen Donfried's statement that aid to Azerbaijan to strengthen the border with Iran with technical equipment has increased after the liberation of the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenian armed forces in the US national security interests is absolutely reasonable and logical.

"The Armenian border with Iran is guarded by Russia's FSB, and for obvious reasons, the US cannot allocate aid to strengthen it. So, there is nothing to be surprised about," the political scientist explained.

Karen Donfried, as figuratively expressed by Musabekov, was simply caught by the acrimonious reprimand of the Armenian lobbyist, while the rest of the senators understand everything and have no questions on this issue.

Washington's actions with regard to Azerbaijan will surely bring down the Armenian joy over the adoption of the false and absolutely biased French Senate's resolution on Azerbaijan. Moreover, in contrast to the formal French paper with the resolution, the repeal of the 907th amendment opens up real practical prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between Washington and Baku.

Well, diligent lobbyists who earn money received from the Armenian diaspora should not worry. Of course, Azerbaijan can defend its borders on its own, our state has enough budget for that. However, the message the Armenian-Iranian army has received from the USA is notable and a multi-vector one at that: Iran should moderate its military and political ambitions in the region, while it is high time for Armenia, instead of ratcheting up separatism in the region and populism in the political arena, to move to the vital matter of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.