A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamene, Ali Akbar Velayati, has voiced opposition to the would-be land corridor that is projected to link Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave via Armenia. The 43-kilometer
corridor, dubbed as “Zangezur corridor” in Azerbaijan, has been endorsed by the US and the EU. The transit corridor passes through Armenia’s southern Syunik region that borders Iran and risks to deprive Tehran of its natural land access to the South Caucasus.
Addressing a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday, Velayati claimed that the corridor serves as a cover for larger geopolitical projects aimed at weakening “the Resistance Axis [referring to Iran’s regional proxies and allies], severing Iran’s link with the Caucasus, and imposing a land blockade on Iran and Russia in the region’s south.”
Velayati said the project was part of the US’ strategy to “shift pressure from Ukraine to the Caucasus”, and that it was also supported by NATO and ‘certain pan-Turkist movements”.
Furthermore, the senior official argued that Iran’s enemies and “Zionists” have been seeking to undermine Iran’s national security and unity. “In this context, plans such as the ‘Zangezur corridor’ are pursued as covers for broader geopolitical projects,” he said. Vilayati concluded by claiming that Iran’s enemies were aiming to penetrate into the country’s geopolitical depth under cover of seemingly economic but in truth “separatist projects”.
The opening a transpiration corridor between Armenia and Azerbaijan is stipulated by the trilateral agreement signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Earlier this month, the United Stated offered the management of the corridor via a commercial company. US ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack stated on July 11 that Washington offered a 100-year lease on the corridor to facilitate the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia rejected this offer, on the ground that it violated Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It should be noted that Vilayati’s remarks are in stark contract to the comments made by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Foreign Ministry on Saturday. During an unannounced visit to the ministry, Pezeshkian emphasized the importance of strengthening ties with neighbors, including Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Persian Gulf states.
