Iran and Russia are Armenia’s natural allies — Alexey Anpilogov

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist Alexey Anpilogov commented on the contradictions between Russia and Iran on the issue of unblocking communications and the so-called “Zangezur corridor”.

“The meetings are designed to eliminate the contradictions that arise between individual departments, ministries that can operate within certain schemes that have really changed recently, and they change quite quickly and unpredictably. And in such difficult issues as the issue of the Zangezur corridor, of course, it is necessary to take into account the opinion not only of Armenia and Azerbaijan but also of neighboring states, one of which is de facto Iran.

Moreover, Iran’s alternative proposal to establish the appropriate transport communications—which are objectively necessary for the region—on Iranian territory is still on the table. And there was no clear ‘no’ from other sides of the conflict. Because, indeed, in this case it is possible to resolve the issue of transport connectivity in Azerbaijan. It is possible to solve the issue of transport connectivity within the framework of such a large Turkic world, starting from Turkey and ending with Central Asia. But in this case, Iran, as a strong regional player, will have a ‘golden share’ in this endeavor and may be a counterweight to Turkey’s poorly concealed hegemonic aspirations.

I believe that this contradiction is largely far-fetched and can be eliminated by a really reasonable project to create such a corridor through Iran.

In those cooperation programs that are currently underway between Russia and Iran, interdependence is inevitable. Let me remind you that the North-South corridor, in addition to such an obvious route through the Caspian Sea, is implemented primarily as a railway route through the territory of Azerbaijan, which, again, returning to the geopolitical situation in Transcaucasia, is almost one hundred percent Turkey’s ally. The interdependence between Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan has indeed already been formed, formed by the very fact of passing national borders. Therefore, some compromise will be found. This, of course, is a matter of the will and desire of the Russian and Iranian leadership and, of course, the corresponding actions of Azerbaijan and Turkey, but some kind of solution that would throw either Russia, Iran, or even Armenia itself out of the issue of creating transport connectivity will, in my opinion, be temporary. It is flawed and will not lead to lasting peace,” the expert said.

According to Alexey Anpilogov, the tension between Iran and Russia will not affect their allied relations with Armenia, which will eventually lead to the exchange of political assets for the benefit of all participants.

“Russia needs connectivity in Transcaucasia, which is now completely disrupted. That is, in exactly the same way as, for example, Armenia acts as a blocking country for the so-called ‘Zangezur corridor’, which, among other things, violates many issues of sovereignty of Armenia itself. In the same way, now, for example, Azerbaijan is not completely this part of the future North-South corridor, which Russia and Iran are now trying to form and use for big geopolitics, which is expanding much further than the Greater Transcaucasia region. Therefore, I think that there will be an inevitable diplomatic, transport, political, if you like, exchange, but in which, it seems to me, Iran and Russia are Armenia’s natural allies,” he concluded.