REP. DAN BURTON HOLDS A HEARING ON IRAN’S INFLUENCE IN S. CAUCASUS/SURROUNDING AREA
CQ Transcriptions
Dec 5 2012
USA Congress
REP. DAN BURTON HOLDS A HEARING ON IRAN’S INFLUENCE IN SOUTH
CAUCASUS/SURROUNDING REGION
December 5, 2012 Wednesday
EVENT DATE: December 5, 2012
TYPE: COMMITTEE HEARING
LOCATION: WASHINGTON, D.C.
COMMITTEE: HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE
AND EURASIA
SPEAKER: REP. DAN BURTON, CHAIRMAN
WITNESSES:
REP. DAN BURTON, R-IND. CHAIRMAN
REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS, D-N.Y. RANKING MEMBER
REP. ELTON GALLEGLY, R-CALIF.
REP. JEAN SCHMIDT, R-OHIO
BRENDA SHAFFER, SENIOR LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA
WITNESSES: ARIEL COHEN, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, HERITAGE FOUNDATION
MICHAEL RUBIN, RESIDENT SCHOLAR, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
ALEX VATANKA, ADJUNCT SCHOLAR, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE
REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF.
REP. ELIOT L. ENGEL, D-N.Y.
TEXT:
BURTON: We’ll now call the hearing to order. This is a very important
hearing in my opinion. Some of them are not nearly as important as
others, but this one is extremely important because Greg and I —
ranking member and Gene — we’re all concerned about the influence of
Iran in the entire region of the Caucasus and also in the Gulf region.
So today we’re here to discuss the expanding influence in the South
Caucasus, But we’re also talking about — I intend to talk about some
of the problems in the Persian Gulf region because that’s of vital
interest to us. If the Straits of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf or the
Suez Canal are blocked in any way, it could have a devastating impact
on the United States because we still get a large part of our energy
from that region.
I traveled to Azerbaijan and Armenia in early September — and you’ve
been over there, too, Greg — and I also stopped in Georgia and
Tiblisi and met with Saakashvili. When I talked to these leaders, Iran
was one of the things that came up at the very beginning because they
all feel the influence and the aggressive attitude underneath the
cover, so to speak, of Iran.
In particular, I think Azerbaijan feels a great deal of concern, and
when I talked to the president and the members of their parliament and
others there it was readily apparent to me that they thought that
there ought to be close are ties between Azerbaijan and the United
States and Georgia and hopefully Armenia. Because Iran is really
trying to destabilize or undermine those governments — we believe
that’s their long term goal.
Iran has been involved in terrorism as we know for some time. Hardly
unique in that area. We have seen the Iranian regime operating through
organizations such as the Republican Guard and employ such tactics
around the globe including right here in Washington, D.C. However, the
proximity of the South Caucasus to Iran as well as strong relationship
with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have with both the United States
and Israel, it increases the appeal of the Iranians for targeting
those countries.
I applaud those governments in the region for their vigilance against
the Iranian threat, however, I’m particularly concerned about the
security at the U.S. embassy in Baku, as the age and location of that
facility leave our people there particularly vulnerable.
I often find myself comparing the geopolitics of the South Caucasus to
a Gordian knot. The tangle of the historical and current events leaves
countries in the region isolated from their neighbors. Unfortunately,
such isolation can play into the hands of powers lying on the
periphery of the region.
Press reports and conversationses that I had while I was in the region
indicate that Iran is taking or at the least has potential to take
advantage of Armenia’s regional isolation and thus the country’s
economic dependence on their common border to use Armenian banks and
enterprises to skirt international sanctions. The United States and
our regional partners, including Armenia, must be vigilant by fully
applying current laws and regulations and by amending sanctions as
needed to close the loopholes. I hope legislation that’s currently
pending in the Congress makes its way through rapidly that will do
just that.
Regarding energy, sanctions are an essential tool in our continued
attempts to isolate the Iranian regime. However, we have to recognize
that for many countries in this subcommittee’s jurisdiction,
decreasing consumption of Iranian energy means increasing consumption
of Russian energy. Such a chain reaction is not in the national
interests of the United States. The solution to this problem requires
renewed American leadership or partnership to increase the development
of resources that lie across the South Caucasus and Central Asia as
well as the infrastructure, the pipelines and other things need to
transport these resources.
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