ArmInfo.The establishment of the "Persian Gulf - Black Sea" transit corridor can open up huge opportunities not only for Armenia and Iran, but also for other countries on this path. Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri stated this on February 9 in an interview with journalists.
At the same time, he stressed that the issue of communications is important for Iran. "Communications passing both through the territory of Armenia and through the territory of Azerbaijan are important for Iran. But, the Persian Gulf - Black Sea project, around which discussions are currently underway, and in the near future another meeting will be held in order to complete the legal framework for this transit path is key," he said.
Back in 2016, Iran put forward a regional initiative to expand the Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport and transit corridor, which, in addition to the Islamic Republic itself, includes Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria and Greece. This multimodal corridor starts from the Persian Gulf and southern Iran, goes north across the country, and then reaches Armenia and/or Azerbaijan, from where it reaches the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi on the Black Sea.
From there, ships with wheeled vehicles carrying cargo cross the Black Sea, heading for Bulgarian ports (Burgas and Varna), after which the cargo is again sent on the road to Greece and on to the EU. After four rounds of expert talks - in Tehran (2016), Sofia (2017), Tbilisi (2018) and again in Tehran (2019), the fifth expert meeting along this corridor was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan April 19, 2021.
The Persian Gulf-Black Sea International Transport and Transit Corridor, the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the China Silk Road Economic Belt (the trans-Eurasian part of its wider One Belt, One Road initiative) are three strategic transit initiatives, maritime whose land and/or rail routes pass through Iran.
The effective integration of all three possibilities will allow Iran to connect the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf in the south, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, Central Asia in the northeast and the Caucasus in the northwest.
In the South Caucasus, Armenia is the only country that is a member of the EAEU and therefore serves as a direct bridge between Iran and the Union, clearly highlighting the importance of the Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport and transit corridor for Iran.
While neighboring Azerbaijan is not currently a member of the EEU, it is the closest direct link between Iran and the important Russian market. In this regard, the North-South ITC, which crosses Azerbaijan, plays a key role for Iran.
An international transport and transit corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea will allow Iran to reduce its dependence on Turkey by opening an alternative route for trade and transit to Europe.