Washington Times / Wikileaks
The Washington Times reported on the basis of US State Department cables disclosed by Wikileaks that the government of Armenia had supplied Iran with rockets and machine guns which were later used to kill American troops in Iraq.
According to the Washington Times, John. D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State at the time, in a December 2008 letter to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, expressed “deep concerns about Armenia’s transfer of arms to Iran which resulted in the death and injury of US soldiers in Iraq.” According to the cables, some of these weapons were recovered from two Shia militant attacks in which one American soldier was killed and six others injured.
A Western diplomat familiar with the incident was quoted by the Washington Times saying that the US “had multiple streams of intelligence connecting the Armenian arms shipment to Iran with the deaths of U.S. soldiers in 2007 in Iraq.” According to the article, Mr. Negroponte said in his letter, "By law, the transfer of these weapons requires us to consider whether there is a basis for the imposition of U.S. sanctions. If sanctions are imposed, penalties could include the cutoff of U.S. assistance and certain export restrictions," he said. No such sanctions have ever been brought against Armenia.
According to Armenian media reports, some members of Congress have reacted to the news by limiting contacts with Armenian lobby organizations. This follows another scandal linking Armenia to crimes against the US. On October 14, dozens of Armenians believed to be part of US-wide organized crime syndicate, were arrested and indicted for defrauding Medicaid for $ 163 million, the largest Medicaid fraud in its history. Media reports also revealed that the gang’s ringleader had donated $10,000 to the DCCC. At the time, TCA urged Members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus to vet their donor lists.
Armenia has received nearly $ 1.9 billion in US government assistance since 1992, placing it among the top tier of the largest, per-capita US aid recipients.
