Khudabakhshyan

*122 MEMORANDUM **

Norik Khudabakhshyan, a native of Iran and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 , 481 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992), we deny the petition for review.

With respect to Khudabakhshyan’s arrests and detention in 1996 and 1998, substantial evidence supports the agency’s denial of asylum because the government established changed country conditions in Armenia, rebutting the presumption of a well-founded fear of persecution. See Kumar v. INS, 204 F.3d 931, 934 (9th Cir.2000); see also Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 995, 999 (9th Cir. 2003) (it is appropriate for BIA to use its expertise in considering contradictory and ambiguous background materials, and deciding which portions are relevant to applicant) (citation omitted). Substantial evidence farther supports the agency’s finding that…