Iran on Thursday, protesting plans for the Zangezur Corridor in the South Caucasus in response to Russia’s favorable remarks. Russia has changed its policy on the transportation route, which also affects Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on X that “any threat from North, South, East, or West to the territorial integrity of our neighbors or redrawing of boundaries is totally unacceptable and a red line for Iran.” After Russia said it supported a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, two rivals in the region, and that “communication must stay open” about opening a land route in the region, Araghchi made the statement.
The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Karabakh enclave, over which they fought two wars in the 1990s and 2020 and which Baku recaptured in a one-day offensive last September, has been going on for decades.
At the moment, the two countries are working toward signing a peace treaty to put an end to the conflict. A transportation idea called the Zangezur Corridor is being slowly put into action to make sure that Azerbaijan can get to the Nakhchivan exclave without having to go through Armenia. However, it continues to be a contentious topic in peace talks. Moscow complies with Azerbaijan’s request to open the Zangezur Corridor through Armenia, thereby preventing Iran from having direct land access to Armenia.
For Türkiye, the corridor serves as a geopolitical connection to Azerbaijan, Central Asia, and beyond. Moscow and Baku want Russia to monitor and control the corridor, but Yerevan and Tehran are against it and argue that Armenia should have control over it even if a transport route were to be established. Iran believes that Russia is supporting Azerbaijan for the Zangezur Corridor in recent statements.
Tehran has stated that it does not desire “geopolitical changes” in the Caucasus and has opposed the project from the beginning. BBC Türkçe reports that a senior Iranian official met with Russia’s Tehran Ambassador Alexei Dedov on Monday to reiterate Iran’s position. “Paying attention to interests and legitimate concerns” was emphasized in the statement, which stated that Iran was working to “help develop cooperation among regional countries.”
According to reports, the two officials also talked about the upcoming meeting of the “3+3 consultation mechanism” and the meeting of the Iranian, Russian, and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are members of the “3+3 platform,” along with their neighbors Iran, Russia, and Turkey.
Since it was first suggested three years ago, this format has only been used for two meetings, and Georgia has refused to attend any of them. The Zangezur Corridor project has Turkish support.
In July, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan described the corridor as a “strategic route that will serve in everyone’s interest, especially Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Iran.” He also stated that Tehran and Baku would be “relieved” if it became operational. Armenia, on the other hand, proposes the “Peace Corridor,” a different project that would give Yerevan more control.
The initiative envisions significant investments in transportation and communications infrastructure to link the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, facilitating the flow of people, energy, and trade between Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran. In June, Vahan Kostanyan, the deputy foreign minister of Armenia, said that Iran supports the “Peace Corridor” project.
Moscow is also accused of pushing the Zangezur Corridor project as a “preemptive move” to exert pressure on Iran, according to Tehran. Some say it’s done to keep it from starting a conversation with the United States.
