A look at the corridor: why is the Iranian President flying to Armenia

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will arrive in Armenia on an unprecedented four-day visit. The main item on the agenda will be the discussion of the so-called "Trump route" or the Zangezur corridor. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Forum with friendship

Iranian President Masoud Peseshkian will arrive in Armenia on August 18 for an official visit, which will last until the 21st. Before the trip, the politician stated that he intends to focus on promoting economic interests.: increasing the role of Iranian companies and the implementation of previously reached investment agreements. According to him, special attention will be paid to cooperation in energy, transport and trade.

It is known that on August 19, Pezeshkian will participate in a bilateral business forum: representatives of industrial and agricultural enterprises will take part in the event from the Iranian side. "The main goals are to strengthen relations, especially in the field of trade, and to sign documents," said Mehdi Sanai, political adviser to the President of the Islamic Republic.

Before the visit, the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi published an article on the prospects of bilateral relations. According to him, joint infrastructure projects and academic exchanges are on the agenda of Yerevan and Tehran, which will connect the two peoples physically and intellectually. The plans also include deepening energy partnership and joint cultural initiatives — "everything that is necessary for long-term friendship."

Araqchi also stressed that the implementation of the North–South project could give a sharp impetus to cooperation. "This is an important international corridor involving thirteen countries, connecting Iran's southern ports with Central Asia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, reducing transportation costs by 30 percent and halving transit time," he said.

A cemetery for mercenaries

Another important item on the agenda will be the discussion of the so-called "Trump route" or the Zangezur corridor. This project involves the creation of a highway and railway track that will pass through the Syunik region of Armenia and connect the main territory of Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan exclave and Turkey.

Baku and Ankara have long insisted that the highway should be extraterritorial, meaning that those passing through it should not pay customs duties or undergo border checks. This approach was strongly opposed in Tehran. Firstly, the creation of such a road could block the border of Iran with Armenia, which also runs in the Syunik region — in this case, the Islamic Republic would lose access to the markets of the EAEU countries and access to the Black Sea ports.

Secondly, the implementation of the project would lead to a sharp strengthening of the Turkic tandem of Azerbaijan and Turkey in Transcaucasia. At the same time, more than 10 million ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran itself, and this status of the highway has had a definite impact on the domestic political situation in the country.

For these reasons, the Iranian leadership has repeatedly stressed that it will not allow attacks on Armenian sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It should be noted that the leadership of the Islamic Republic emphasized the seriousness of its position in every way. The Iranian army conducted several military exercises near the borders of Azerbaijan. The country's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei bluntly called the Zangezur Corridor a harmful project that harms Armenia. Finally, an Iranian consulate was opened in the administrative center of the Syunik region, Kapan.

This summer, it became known that the American side is showing great interest in the transport infrastructure in the region. The US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, stated that Washington is thinking of leasing the corridor for a period of 100 years. "They [Armenia and Azerbaijan] are arguing over 32 km of road, this has been going on for ten years. And then America comes and says, "Okay, we'll take this for ourselves," he reasoned.

As a result, on August 8 in Washington, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan and Donald Trump signed a trilateral declaration in which Baku and Yerevan confirmed that they would work towards concluding a peace agreement. One of the points of the document is devoted to unblocking regional communications. It says that Armenia will cooperate with the United States to implement the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project.

During the press conference, Donald Trump explained that TRIPP will become "a special transit zone that will allow Azerbaijan to gain full access to its territory in Nakhichevan with full respect for Armenia's sovereignty." According to him, the partnership between Yerevan and Washington on this issue "can last for 99 years." Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the implementation of the project will be the largest investment in the history of Armenia.

Iran reacted to the agreement in two ways. Advisor to the Supreme leader Ali Akbar Velayati stated that he opposes the creation of a highway along the border with Armenia, because it will threaten the security of the South Caucasus and contribute to the isolation of Iran. According to him, Tehran will "defend its security by all means" — the road may become a "cemetery for Trump's mercenaries."

Other officials were more restrained. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Iran's demands have been taken into account, the issue of the corridor has been removed from the agenda, we are talking only about the transit road. President Masoud Peseshkian also said that Tehran's demands have been met, and the country's northern border will remain open. "The only concern is that Armenian and American companies want to build this road," he said.

What the experts say

Vladimir Sazhin, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an Iranian, believes that economic issues will be in second place during Peseshkian's trip.

— Only 3 million people live in Armenia, it is a small republic, and trade relations with it are not so critical for Iran. The political and geopolitical aspects will be in the foreground. The project to create a highway from Azerbaijan to Turkey poses a serious danger for the Islamic Republic. If the project is implemented, the positions of Ankara and the United States will strengthen in the region. In Tehran, they believe that everything can turn into the deployment of the US military. It is clear that this causes discontent and concern. I think Masoud Pezeshkian will try to ensure that Yerevan takes into account the interests of Tehran," he says.

Arshaluys Mgdesyan, an Armenian political analyst, also says that the Washington agreements will be the main topic of the talks.

— The Iranian president's visit has been planned for a long time, now it so happens that it will take place immediately after the meeting between Pashinyan, Aliyev and Trump. Iran has accumulated many concerns about the creation of a road in the border area. The Armenian leadership is trying to convince its neighbor that there is nothing to worry about. Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan flew to Tehran in mid-August, where he tried to dispel doubts, and now the high-level dialogue will continue on Armenian territory. Let's look at the results of the visit, they will mean a lot for the situation in Transcaucasia as a whole," he notes.