Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan claims victory in election seen as test of Russia's influence

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan early Monday claimed victory in a general election seen as a test of Russia's influence in the South Caucasus state, as preliminary results showed his governing Civil Contract party came first with 49.81% of the vote.

Pashinyan and the governing Civil Contract party were looking for a strong mandate for a new geopolitical course for Armenia, including distancing the former Soviet republic from Moscow, seeking to join the European Union and deepening cooperation with the West.

Casting his vote on Sunday, Pashinyan said that the country would continue strengthening its independence, statehood, democracy and rule of law.

“The European Union is our main partner in democratic reform implementation, and we will continue that path,” he said.

Pashinyan’s main opponent, Samvel Karapetyan, is a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and is under house arrest for allegedly advocating for the government’s overthrow. Karapetyan, whose Strong Armenia bloc was the runner-up with 23.29% of the vote, has rejected the charge as politically motivated.

Richard Giragosian, who heads the independent Regional Studies Center think tank in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, described the vote as a “pivotal election” that “stands as a referendum on the future of the country.”

“This election provides a fresh mandate on sustaining the positive momentum of diplomatic engagement, normalization of relations with neighbors, and the continued diversification of Armenia’s security partners,” Giragosian told AP on Monday.

Russian officials have hit Armenian exports with a barrage of restrictions in recent weeks. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have made thinly veiled threats comparing Armenia’s path to that already taken by Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia.

Meanwhile, Armenian investigators said that they issued six arrest warrants for members of Karapetyan's Strong Armenia party the day before the election, accusing them of buying votes. The nation’s Central Election Committee confirmed Saturday that the party could run after a member of another opposition party, Republic, appealed for Strong Armenia to be barred over corruption allegations.

Karapetyan was escorted to a polling station on Sunday, and briefly spoke to the media before returning home.

“The Armenian people will make the right choice and Armenia will finally have a legitimate government,” he said.

Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party seeks to develop close business ties with Russia and has accused Pashinyan of attempting to start a war with the Kremlin.

According to Armenia’s Central Election Commission, four parties polled above the 4% electoral threshold and will enter parliament following Sunday’s election, including some that are vocally pro-Russia.

Two other parties, Armenia and Blossoming Armenia, also made it into parliament with 9.94% and 4% of votes, respectively. According to the election commission, turnout stood at 59.97%.

Before the results came in, Pashinyan spoke to journalists at his headquarters, claiming his party won the elections with a record result and would form the government on its own.

Preliminary results from the election commission bore this out, suggesting the governing party has won 61 seats in Armenia's 105-member National Assembly — or 58.1% of all mandates.

“This is enough to form a government without coalition partners, elect a prime minister, adopt the government program and state budget, as well as adopt most of the laws and parliamentary decisions independently,” said Giragosian, the analyst. At the same time, he added, the result would not give Pashinyan the parliamentary majority needed to secure constitutional amendments without a referendum.

Top EU officials congratulated Pashinyan following the tightly contested race, seen in Europe as a litmus test of Russia’s influence.

“The spirit of the Velvet Revolution you led in 2018 is alive and well,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday in a social media post, referring to the mass protests sparked by Pashinyan's activism that unseated Armenia's former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

“We deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe. Armenia can count on us," von der Leyen added.

European Council President António Costa also congratulated Pashinyan. In a post on X, Costa talked about a greater role for the EU in Armenia and the broader South Caucasus region, which bridges Europe's hungry energy markets and Central Asia's gas fields.

“Together, the EU and Armenia are building stronger links between people and creating new opportunities in energy, trade, and digitalization. Our strong partnership is an investment in a more peaceful and prosperous future for the region as a whole," he said.

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AP writer Sam McNeil contributed from Brussels.

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An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that turnout in Armenia's general election on Sunday stood at 97%. The correct figure is 59.97%.

Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan speaks to the media after voting at a polling station during a parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

A member of an election commission prepares the ballots while waiting for voters at a polling station, during a parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks to journalists after voting at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at his Armenia Ruling Civil Contract party headquarters after parliamentary elections in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes early Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire from Tehran, attacks that threatened to drag the wider Middle East back into a regional war.

Monday marked the 100th day of the Iran war, launched Feb. 28 when Israel and the United States killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders. The war raged until reaching a nominal ceasefire on April 8, but a permanent end to the hostilities have been challenged by Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime, as well as fighting between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

With global energy supplies threatened, Iran still holding a vast stockpile of highly enriched uranium and even Yemen's Houthi rebels apparently getting involved in the fighting Monday, the risks of the war fully erupting again appears to be rising.

Iranian state television reported the sound of explosions being heard in Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and Tehran, without immediately elaborating. A witness in Tehran described hearing at least one large blast somewhere to the west of the country’s capital city. Iran closed the airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main airfield, after the Israeli attack.

Sirens sounded across Israel on Monday after its military said a missile launched from Yemen targeted the country, without elaborating. Israel’s rescue services said there were no reports of casualties or impacts from the launch from Yemen.

Yemen is home to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Houthis have fired missiles at Israel during the Israel-Hamas war and later, but haven’t been fully involved in the Iran war. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take them hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

In Iran, officials offered no details on what had been struck, nor any damage information. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said that Israel used air-launched ballistic missiles in its attack Monday morning, without elaborating.

The Israeli military at dawn in Iran issued a short statement as the strikes started: “A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force struck military targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran.” It did not elaborate.

In Saudi Arabia, missile alert sirens sounded Monday morning in an area home to an air base that hosts U.S. forces. Saudi state media reported the alert around its Al Kharj governorate, home to Prince Sultan Air Base. The alert came after Israel’s strikes on Iran. Saudi Arabia shortly after said the missile danger in the area had passed, without elaborating.

The White House did not respond to messages about the strikes and whether they were done in coordination with the U.S.

A senior U.S. official on Sunday said U.S. President Donald Trump had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge him not to retaliate immediately for the Iranian missile attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private phone call, said that Trump believed he had convinced Netanyahu to wait.

Trump “got Bibi to hold off for the time being,” the official said. The official would not offer any other details of the call, and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

For days, negotiations between Iran and the United States over the fragile ceasefire in the war had been stalled by the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. Israel now occupies southern Lebanon and had moved into areas of the country it hadn't held in a quarter century — leading to fears about them further widening their campaign.

On Sunday, Israel launched airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs. Iran retaliated with its own strike on Israel, which led to Monday morning's attack by Israel on Iran.

Trump earlier told a Fox News Channel reporter that he wanted the Iranians to stop firing missiles and return to the negotiating table. He also said that Israel’s strikes in Lebanon earlier Sunday were not coordinated with the U.S. and “I’m not happy about it.”

Speaking to The Financial Times before the Israeli strikes on Iran, Trump insisted he dictated terms to Netanyahu on how the war should be prosecuted.

“He won’t have any choice,” Trump told the newspaper in a telephone interview. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots.”

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Michelle L. Price in Bridgewater, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

Medical staff transfer patients to a protected underground facility following an Iranian missile attack, at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People take shelter as air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missiles in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank city of Jericho Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Lebanese intelligence officers look at an unexploded missile, centre, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)