Alwaght- The Zangezur Corridor project remains the sticking point between Azerbaijan and Armenia and recently Armenian government released a statement refuting a report published by a Spanish newspaper about a trilateral agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkey to construct the Zangezur Corridor and describing it a “combined warfare and deceptive propaganda.”
Alwaght has arranged an interview with Hessamuddin Borumand, a expert of regional affairs, to discuss the contentious corridor and the role of regional and international actors in this project.
Alwaght: Why is Azerbaijan insisting on implementing the project despite open Iranian warnings?
Borumand: Zangezur Corridor seeks to connect Autonomous Nakhchivan Region to Azerbaijan and Turkey through the Syunik province of Armenia. It should be known that this project is not just aimed at undermining the Iranian transit position, but also the main issue is Baku’s domination of the regional energy market and strategic routes. Azerbaijan thinks that with conclusion of this project, Baku will gain the upper hand in the transit routes of the region. But it seems that Azerbaijan leaders have not taken into consideration all the factors including the firm Iranian objection. Tehran has more than once announced that the corridor is a red line.
Alwaght: In addition to Azerbaijan which regional and international actors are involved in Zangezur case?
Borumand: The fake Zangezur Corridor has geopolitical implications for Iran and the region. Therefore, several actors are behind this project and the issue is not limited to the Republic of Azerbaijan. One of the actors is Turkey, which is seeking to strengthen its position on the route from China to Europe. It seems that Ankara has commercial as well as political goals for a direct land connection between Turkey and Azerbaijan based on the ideas of a union of Turkic-speaking countries. The role of Turkey in pursuing the implementation of the Zangezur Corridor is clear, and Turkey is seeking to compete with Iran and Russia in terms of transit and trade. Also, the Republic of Azerbaijan feels that if the Zangezur Corridor is implemented, it will build a suitable position in the Western policy.
At the same time, the United States is standing at the backstage of this project and it is the United States that is insisting on regional geopolitical changes through this corridor. Once constructed, the project not only challenges Iran’s transit route, but also it will geopolitically choke Iran and this aim is crucial to Washington to contain Tehran.
Iran has issued numerous and continuous warnings to Azerbaijan regarding the Zangezur Corridor in recent months, but the reality is that Baku is not the only actor in the story and the directors of the Zangezur story are the Americans who insist on implementing their plan to exert geopolitical pressure on Iran.
On the other hand, the United States, in a broader aspect and in the security paradigm, is seeking to weaken the Iran-China-Russia alliance triangle. Washington believes that the implementation of the Zangezur Corridor will challenge Iran’s borders and transit position. Washington is also seeking a new regional order in the Middle East and this new regional order is not pursued only by supporting Israel, but also uses other channels to implement a new regional order with American coordinates. In the new regional order desired by the United States, geopolitical pressure on Iran will be pursued through the implementation of the Zangezur Corridor.
Alwaght: What options would be ahead of Iran once the corridor is constructed?
Borumand: It should be taken into account that Iran is geopolitically at a war of corridors. As mentioned before, Zangezur is not one-dimensional and seeks aims beyond business and transit.
There are ways that can help stop this project and Iran is following a combined strategy in the face of the Zangezur Corridor. Tehran can adopt a more dynamic diplomacy in dealing with the project. Also close economic and military cooperation with Armenia can help maintain the land connection between the two countries. On the other hand, Iran can cooperate more closely with China and Russia regarding the Zangezur Corridor, and just as the trilateral alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the United States is advancing this project, Iran should also create a trilateral alliance with China and Russia against Zangezur Corridor. Iran must also go beyond some diplomatic messages and warnings and enter into a serious confrontation with Azerbaijan itself, accepting all the consequences of and closing the dispute with Baku once and for all, since the corridor eyed by Azerbaijan does not only have transit aspects and actually its consequences are broad for Iran.
