On Friday, Iranian Ambassador to Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani, dismissed the possibility of Armenia establishing an extraterritorial land corridor for Azerbaijan, a move strongly opposed by Iran.
“We oppose any corridor that would undermine Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Sobhani told reporters. “As we have consistently stated, such proposals are contrary to the interests of both Armenia and Iran.”
Sobhani added, “The ambitions some have for Armenia, under various names including the so-called corridor, will never materialize.”
The proposed “Zangezur corridor” by Baku aims to link Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave and Turkey via Syunik, the only Armenian region adjacent to Iran. Tehran is concerned that this would sever its shared border with Armenia.
Iranian officials appear increasingly alarmed by Russia’s recent advocacy for the corridor. During President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Baku on August 18-19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Armenia of “sabotaging” a 2020 agreement brokered by Russia to construct a highway and railway in Syunik connecting Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan. Yerevan denied these accusations amid escalating tensions with Moscow.
The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported on Wednesday that Iran’s ambassador in Moscow has lodged a protest against the Russian Foreign Ministry’s position on the Zangezur corridor. Earlier this week, a senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official met with the Russian ambassador to reiterate Tehran’s firm opposition to any “geopolitical changes” in the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasized on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, “Any threat to our neighbors’ territorial integrity or attempts to redraw boundaries from any direction—North, South, East, or West—is entirely unacceptable and a red line for Iran.” Sobhani referenced Araghchi’s statement during his press briefing.
Baku seeks to have transit through Syunik exempt from Armenian border controls, a request that Yerevan has rejected, citing concerns about compromising Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
On August 31, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reaffirmed this position but indicated that Yerevan is open to allowing a foreign private company to provide “additional security” for the proposed transport routes to Nakhichevan. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian clarified on Wednesday that even if such an arrangement were agreed upon with Azerbaijan, Armenian border and customs officers would still oversee transit traffic through Syunik.
Sobhani commented on this, stating, “We oppose other countries coming in to impose security or control. From what we have been informed by Armenian authorities, the border checkpoints in Syunik will be managed by the relevant Armenian authorities and remain under Armenian sovereignty.”
