Iran denounces US-backed plan to build transit route through Armenia
(MENAFN) Iran has voiced strong opposition to a U.S.-supported initiative to create a transit route through Armenia that would be controlled by the United States, warning that the plan threatens regional stability and undermines Iran’s security concerns.
The agreement was signed on Friday in Washington by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump. It aims to establish the Zangezur transport corridor, connecting Azerbaijan’s mainland with its exclave Nakhichevan via a narrow strip of southern Armenian territory bordering Iran.
According to the deal, the U.S. will oversee the corridor’s management under Armenian sovereignty through a 99-year lease, which will then be subleased to a consortium responsible for its construction and operation.
While Tehran has expressed support for peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it strongly rejects the idea of U.S. control over this corridor. Iranian officials argue that the project would isolate Iran from Armenia and destabilize the South Caucasus by introducing foreign military and commercial presence in the region.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, described the initiative as a geopolitical maneuver orchestrated by the U.S. and Israel to weaken Iran, cut its ties with the Caucasus, and impose a land blockade on both Iran and Russia. He asserted that this plan is part of a broader NATO-backed strategy, supported by pan-Turkic groups, to divert Western attention from Ukraine to the Caucasus.
Velayati stated, “The Caucasus is one of the most sensitive geographical points in the world, and this corridor will not be a transit route in Trump’s possession but a graveyard for his mercenaries.” He also noted that Russia opposes the project on strategic grounds.
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