Sanctions on Iran have so far not affected Armenia, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia said.

“If there're any additional sanctions because of these latest developments with regard to nuclear arms, clearly those sanctions will come to bite Armenia. There's no doubt about it,” Vartan Oskanian told Al Jazeera TV.

“But on the other hand, Armenia is a member of the international community. And is bound to honor mandatory sanctions. That's why Armenia's position has always been that this conflict with Iran be resolved through negotiations so that we can avoid additional sanctions, and also, clearly, so we can avoid military actions. That will be extremely detrimental to the region in its entirety. So Armenia's position is that we need to have a negotiated settlement because additional sanctions will be tantamount for Armenia to having a third closed border which Armenia cannot afford,” he said.

In its recent report, the UN's nuclear watchdog expressed "serious concerns" about research and development work by Iran, which the agency described as "specific to nuclear weapons". Following the report, the U.S., UK and Canada have announced new sanctions against Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke of a "significant ratcheting-up of pressure.” The UK said earlier it was cutting all ties with Iranian banks, while Canada said it was banning exports for the petrochemical, oil and gas industries.