ArmInfo.The prospect of implementation of the so-called "Zangezur corridor" pushed by Baku and Ankara, poses a direct threat not only to the interests and national security of Armenia, but also to our neighboring Iran. And, accordingly, it is a direct challenge for both Yerevan and Tehran. Vardan Voskanyan, Head of the Department of Iranian Studies of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of YSU, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"I am convinced that, periodically and so zealously raising this topic, Ilham Aliyev does it not so much in his own interests as in the interests and under the pressure of his Turkish colleague Erdogan. The corridor through Armenia is necessary for the Turks to implement their own long-standing programs in the spirit and letter of the Great Turan. Today Erdogan, taking into account the favorable situation for him and the weakening of Armenia, is trying to do it with Aliyev's support, "he said.
The Iranian expert views the implementation of the corridor as an opportunity to strengthen Ankara's positions in the South Caucasus, which will become the inevitable result of the emergence of a direct land connection between Turkey and Azerbaijan. The latter, according to his forecasts, is a direct threat to the security of Iran, since, thus, the northern borders of the country, in particular, the northwest, will actually be in the Turkish encirclement. Taking into account the emergence of additional communication problems in this case for Iran, the Turkic-speaking population of the north of the country and the current general geopolitical background, such a prospect contains a number of challenges and threats for Tehran.
Thus, the prospect of Yerevan losing its sovereignty over any territories of the Syunik region, according to the Iranian scholar, directly contradicts Tehran's interests. And the latter, accordingly, is actively trying to oppose the implementation of the pan-Turkist plans of the Erdogan-Aliyev tandem. The recent statements of the Spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the chairman of the Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy of the National Assembly of Iran, Dr. Mojtaba Zonnour, very clearly reflected this position of Tehran.
"Zonnour very transparently voiced the inadmissibility of any changes in the existing state border between Armenia and Iran. Under no circumstances. And as far as I can judge, this is not only about the prospects for the implementation of the corridor project. It is about the prospect of Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia. In particular, in the light of the recent Azerbaijani sorties and consolidation at Lake Sev Lich, "the Iranian scholar summed up.