Political scientist: Iran will have to go through another test in  difficult times

ArmInfo.  It seems that Iran will have to go through another test during these challenging times. Political scientist Manvel Sargsyan writes about this in his article. 

According to him, the issue stems from the fact that it is no longer  news to anyone that  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been  unusually active in addressing the issues of the South Caucasus in  recent days, which indicates the rapid development of global  processes in our region.  After the informal summit of the heads of  state of the Organization of Turkic States held in the Hungarian  capital Budapest on May 21, 2025, Turkey immediately began  implementing a program to "form" a new political space in the South  Caucasus. Apparently, this program was discussed with Russia in  advance of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Yerevan,  as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was invited to Moscow on May  26, where the parties discussed joint regulation of  communication  issues in the South Caucasus region among other topics.

It is noteworthy that Fidan stated in Moscow that Turkey considers  President Aliyev's policy  to be reasonable and supports it. In other  words, this reveals the conditions under which Turkey will address  issues in the South Caucasus. Lavrov's remarks clearly hinted that  the parties share a unified position. It is anyone's guess as to who  will be the first to start the acceleration of the settlement process  in the South Caucasus region.

However, the activism of Turkey and Azerbaijan began immediately. On  May 26, Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Erdogan arrived in Lachin to open  a new airport. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also arrived  in Lachin aiming to showcase  the real format of cooperation on South  Caucasus issues. Most likely, this concerned, first of all, Iran and  India, both of whom have clear stances on Armenia's territorial and  communication issues. The Turks needed Pakistan's involvement at this  crucial time. The potential for stable communication from Armenia to  India through Iran's territory  cannot is a concern for both Turks  and Pakistanis. It was time for a serious conversation to start on  this topic. 

The latter circumstance became immediately obvious. After visiting  Lachin, Erdogan made a specific statement, the main part of which was  an appeal to the leadership of Iran. According to him, the "Zangezur  corridor" is not only a land route, but also a new line of  integration from the territory of Turkey to the Turkic world. "The  opening of this corridor in the shortest possible time will  strengthen the transport and energy infrastructure in the South  Caucasus. We expect Iran to support steps that will contribute to  peace and development in our region," Erdogan solemnly stated, whose  words were recalled by Manvel Sargsyan.

He added that with this formulation of the significance of the road  passing through Armenia, the Turkish President finally dispelled any  misunderstanding regarding the true purpose of concentrating all  efforts of Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that Erdogan  suggests Iran not to worry about the security of its proposal  regarding Armenia. According to him, "we are in a cautious  normalization process with Armenia, both of our countries will  benefit from peace and normalization, so there is no reason to  worry." "In other words, Iran was forced to agree to the  implementation of the Azerbaijani concept of unblocking the Syunik  communication, removing it from the jurisdiction of Armenia. This  call already looks like an ultimatum, since the Turkish leader has  already had the opportunity to state that the main obstacle to the  implementation of the Turkish-Azerbaijani approach on the issue of  communication through the territory of Armenia is Iran. 

It is difficult to say whether any of the interested parties  discussed the issue of their activation with the leadership of  Armenia. However, it is unlikely that Lavrov would conceal his  intentions to intensify efforts to unblock the Meghri road during his  visit. Iran's stance is crucial in the current situation. Given the  challenging situation Iran faces in  ongoing negotiations with the  United States on the nuclear issue, one can comprehend the added  burden  placed on the leadership of this country by Turkish  president.  Ultimately, Armenia can only await for the outcome of  this latest intrigue," the political scientist concluded.