# Armenia’s Election Was Rigged In Plain Sight | Mikael Darbinian

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/neutrality-studies-7179578/armenia-s-election-was-rigged-in-plain-sight-mikael-darbinian
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/neutrality-studies-7179578/armenia-s-election-was-rigged-in-plain-sight-mikael-darbinian.md
Podcast: [Neutrality Studies](https://stenobird.com/podcast/neutrality-studies-7179578)
Published: 2026-06-17T18:45:45+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/neutrality-studies/episodes/Armenias-Election-Was-Rigged-In-Plain-Sight--Mikael-Darbinian-e3ku890
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fe578920/podcast/play/121626336/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-17%2F49ea988e-f2f1-7bc1-4dfa-c3c1a10a58dd.m4a
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/neutrality-studies-7179578/episodes/armenia-s-election-was-rigged-in-plain-sight-mikael-darbinian
Duration seconds: 3691

## Resource

Mikael Darbinian, a former U.S. diplomat and ethnic Armenian now living in Armenia, joins to talk about the June 7 election, claims of rigging, arrests of opposition figures, and the growing power of Prime Minister Pashinyan. The discussion also covers foreign pressure from the EU, U.S., Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran, plus fears that Armenia is losing sovereignty.Links:Security Observer Análisis (Spanish language channel) - / @securityobserveranalisis Security Observer Global Voices (my Think Tank channel in English) - / @securityobserverglobalvoices Security Observer website: https://security-observer.com Neutrality Studies substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com (Opt in for Academic Section from your profile settings: https://pascallottaz.substack.com/s/a... )Merch: https://neutralitystudies.com/shop Donation: https://neutralitystudies.com/donate Timestamps: 00:00:00 Guest intro and background 00:01:12 What happened in the election 00:03:25 Election rigging claims 00:06:22 Recount and parliament threshold 00:10:05 Public frustration in Armenia 00:13:08 Why Pashinyan still has support 00:17:42 Foreign influence and corridor politics 00:22:04 TRIP corridor and U.S. interests 00:35:08 Iran, sovereignty, and Armenia’s future

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## Transcript

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