Armenia very clearly formulated its position on Iran to the delegation led by United States national security advisor John Bolton, who paid a visit to Yerevan last week, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in the Armenian parliament on Thursday.

Answering a question from a lawmaker representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on the possible effect of U.S. sanctions against Iran on Armenia, Pashinian reaffirmed his position of “special relations” that the landlocked South Caucasus nation should have with two of its neighbors – Iran and Georgia, which, in conditions of the absence of diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, are the only gateways for the country to the outside world.

“I reaffirm the position that we should have special relations with Iran and Georgia that would be as far outside geopolitical influences as possible. This position was very clearly formulated also during my meeting with Mr. Bolton, and I think that the position of Armenia was clear, comprehensible and even acceptable to representatives of the U.S. delegation,” the Armenian leader said.

Armenia’s relations with neighboring Iran and renewed U.S. sanctions against Tehran were a major theme of Bolton’s talks in Yerevan on October 25.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service later that day, Bolton said he told Pashinian that the Trump administration will enforce sanctions against Iran “very vigorously.” For that reason, he said, the Armenian-Iranian border is “going to be a significant issue.”

“Obviously, we don’t want to cause damage to our friends in the process,” added the U.S. official.

“We respect any country’s statement and respect the national interests of any country, but the Republic of Armenia has its own national and state interests, which do not always coincide with the interests and ideas of other countries, any other country,” the acting Armenian premier said today. “Let no one doubt that we are fully building our activities on the basis of Armenia’s national interest – be it in our relations with the United States, Iran, Russia, all countries.”

Pashinian appeared in the National Assembly today as a candidate for the prime minister’s position. He resigned on October 16 to clear the way for snap general elections and the only way to achieve the holding of such elections in Armenia under its current constitution is to have the parliament twice reject a candidate for the post.

After the tactical voting that is to reject Pashinian’s candidacy the Armenian parliament will be considered dissolved and new elections will be appointed by the president – likely for December 9.