Azerbaijan is preparing an escalation, the goal is the corridor through Armenia – Artyom Tonoyan

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently published a book that touches upon, among other things, Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. It is noteworthy that during the most difficult days of the 2020 war, Iran’s new Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Armenia to propose a ceasefire option to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which Russia was supposed to offer in 2 weeks. However, according to the Iranian side, unlike Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia rejected this option. Alpha News spoke with orientalist Artyom Tonoyan on this topic.

“When talking about why Armenia rejected Iran, it should be noted that it would be right to discuss this in the context of why a ceasefire was concluded at all, or why Armenia agreed to such ceasefire conditions, or if there was to be a ceasefire, why in that case we went down the path of war. I believe that, by and large, this content would not be much different from the proposals made by Russia. As a starting point, I choose the fact that it was a package of proposals accepted by Turkey and Azerbaijan. This already suggests what kind of package it was. It implied return, the local population had to remain in their places; security had to be ensured. But when Araghchi’s package of proposals was rejected, the spiritual leader presented his concept on this topic, and I remember it was noted that the Artsakh people should continue to live in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Tonoyan noted.

According to the orientalist, Iranian experts predicted many years ago that the next war would be for a land road to Nakhichevan.

“Many years ago, when there was no war yet, we talked to our Iranian colleagues, and they noted that the next war would be for ensuring a land connection with Nakhichevan. The Nakhichevan problem exists today, and although Iran offers access to Nakhichevan through its territory, in my opinion, this is not a solution for Azerbaijan. And Azerbaijan manipulates this issue during discussions with Armenian figures, noting that there is Iran, and if you do not want it, we can pave the way through its territory. But this is not beneficial to them since their route will increase tenfold. In other words, everything that Iran offers, Azerbaijan has, and Iran’s offer is not new for Azerbaijan. No matter how much Baku claims that it has a solution, I will say one thing: this is all manipulation for discussions with Armenia, because Armenia is what they need. And despite the fact that Armenia agrees to provide a corridor on the condition that it also controls it, Azerbaijan is against this, it wants to get a road with a different status,” Tonoyan concluded.