Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The American administration made it clear that it expects from Tbilisi more understanding and realizing of American interests in building relations with Iran.
In recent years the topic of Georgian-Iranian relations has appeared in conversations between the USA and Georgia from time to time. Washington made it clear that it attentively follows relations between Tbilisi and Tehran in the energetic and trade spheres.
In the 1990s the US informally threatened the president Shevardnadze to break all relations, if the information that experts of Tbilisi aircraft plant were sent to Iranian enterprises came true. The scandal was settled: Shevardnadze managed to convince American partners that experts of the plant which produced CU-25 travelled to Iran privately.
However, Americans had certain doubts which was probably one of reasons why the USA didn’t support “the destroyer of the Berlin Wall” and the former foreign minister of the USSR during the Rose Revolution in 2003.
The US had questions on the problem to Saakashvili’s administration as well. Even though he was thought to be a favourite of Bush’s administration, American diplomats hinted that Washington didn’t like deep Georgian-Iranian relations, including economic and transport sphere.
Under the new government the problem became sharp again: on June 20th the American authorities organized a leakage to Wall Street Journal on dissatisfaction of Obama’s administration that Tbilisi doesn’t want to break relations with Tehran. The author of the article headlined “Despite sanctions, Iranian investments to Georgia grow” wrote in details about business activity of the Iranians in some spheres of Georgian economy. “Sanctions prevent Iran from running business all over the world, and it strives to Georgia which is thought to be the US’s ally,” Wall Street Journal wonders. According to the author, the number of Iranian companies registered in Georgia has grown from 84 to 1,500 in two years. Moreover, in the last three months the Iranians have bought one of Georgian airline companies, a major bank, and a non-ferrous plant.
For Bidzina Ivanishvili the demarche became an unexpected mess. Considering statements by the foreign Ministry of Georgia and some ministers, they don’t see anything bad in trade and economic contacts with the neighboring country. “We didn’t violate any UN sanctions,” Premier’s supporters state, referring to the fact that the UN inspection didn’t register any violations of sanctions. Meanwhile, the Georgian authorities realized that the Americans meant not the UN sanctions, but their internal laws, i.e. sanctions by the Congress and the US administration, as they demand their partners to fulfill them.
When Ivanishvili’s government understood this, it took necessary measures on “continuation of the foreign political course.” Wall Street Journal published a new article which says that the Georgian authorities froze 150 banking accounts belonging to Iranian persons and entities. The authors cite the statement by the minister of justice of Georgia Teya Tsulukiani on readiness “to close cooperation for implementation of sanctions.”
