Sanctions were imposed on Azerbaijan in 1992. Our public is not aware that at that time Armenia was also under sanctions. These sanctions were based on the Jackson-Vanik amendment adopted in 1974.

Axar.az reports that these words were said by Tofiq Zulfugarov, the former foreign minister and political scientist, while commenting on President Ilham Aliyev's remarks about U.S. sanctions on Azerbaijan during his meeting with the residents of Jabrayil.

“In 1974, a law was adopted against the Soviet Union and China initiated by two congressmen, Jackson and Vanik. This was an amendment to the U.S. Trade Act that provided for trade sanctions against countries that restricted the rights of Jews to emigrate freely. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Jackson-Vanik law was applied to the CIS countries, which included Ukraine and Georgia. The sanctions imposed on Armenia were lifted in 2004. Note that the sanctions were lifted in 2004 despite the ongoing occupation. While imposing these sanctions, the U.S. administration specifically mentioned Armenia’s occupation of the territory of a neighboring state. In several annual reports from the State Department, it was stated that Armenia had occupied Azerbaijani territory. Sanctions imposed on Georgia in 2003 and on Ukraine in 2005 were also lifted. Now look at us: after 1992, many events took place, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees confirmed that the number of displaced persons was 758,000. However, despite this, we faced sanctions every year, although they were halted. Azerbaijan rightly demands that these barriers be removed. I believe this issue was emphasized in the president's speech. If someone calls for friendship with us, they must first demonstrate a balanced and fair approach,” the political scientist emphasized.

It should be noted that in 1992, the U.S. Congress added Amendment 907 to the Freedom Support Act, which prohibited direct U.S. government assistance to Azerbaijan. Initiated by the Armenian lobby, this ban made Azerbaijan the only post-Soviet state that did not receive direct assistance from the U.S. government to facilitate its economic and political stability.