“We are against any corridor that would breach the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia,” Sobhani told reporters. “As we have always said, this goes against Armenia’s and Iran’s interests.”
“The dreams that some have about Armenia under different names, including the so-called corridor, will never come true,” he said.
The “Zangezur corridor” sought by Baku would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave as well as Turkey through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering Iran. Tehran fears that it would strip the Islamic Republic of its common border with Armenia.
Iranian leaders seem to be seriously concerned about Russia’s latest push for the opening of such a corridor. Speaking during President Vladimir Putin’s August 18-19 visit to Baku, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Armenia of “sabotaging” a Russian-brokered 2020 agreement to build a highway and railway in Syunik connecting Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. Yerevan rejected the accusations made amid its heightened tensions with Moscow.
The Tasnim news agency linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards reported on Wednesday that Iran’s ambassador in Moscow has protested against “the Russian Foreign Ministry’s stance on the Zangezur corridor.” Earlier this week, a senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official met the Russian ambassador to Iran to reiterate Tehran’s strong opposition to any “geopolitical changes” in the region.
“Any threat from North, South, East, or West to territorial integrity of our neighbors or redrawing of boundaries is totally unacceptable and a red line for Iran,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Thursday. Sobhani cited Araghchi’s tweet when he spoke to journalists.
Baku wants the transit of people and goods through Syunik to be exempt from Armenian border controls. Yerevan has rejected this demand, saying that it cannot compromise on Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reaffirmed this stance on August 31, Still, he said Yerevan is ready to let a foreign private company provide “additional security” along the would-be transport links for Nakhichevan. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian clarified on Wednesday that even if such an arrangement is accepted by the Azerbaijani side, Armenian border and customs officers will still control the transit traffic through Syunik.
“We are against other countries coming here and trying to impose some kind of security or control,” Sobhani said in this regard. “And from what we have been told by the Armenian authorities, the border checkpoints [in Syunik] would be controlled by relevant Armenian authorities and be under Armenian sovereignty.”