‘Zangezur corridor’ is a red line for Iran — Abbas Juma

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian international journalist Abbas Juma commented on Iran’s position around the so-called “Zangezur corridor” and the possibility of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“Iran’s position remains unchanged; it has been articulated many times. The ‘Zangezur corridor’ is a red line for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Changing borders and Israel’s interference in these processes and Turkey’s active participation are extremely undesirable for Tehran. The anti-Iranian bloc, consisting of the United States and Israel—by the way, Iran perceives Turkey and Azerbaijan as members of this bloc as well—is beginning to push the topic of the ‘Zangezur corridor’ and the strategy of encircling Iran. This cannot but worry the Iranian elites, and now not only Armenians, but also Iranians feel that a serious threat in the form of another military conflict is approaching the region.

I will leave the forecasts for now. I hope that nothing will happen, I hope that the diplomatic, and not only diplomatic, efforts of the Islamic Republic will work. As I understand it, Iranians know how to threaten. If something happens, they will be forced to enter the game, simply because a war in the region threatens them directly. The fact that Iran perceives Azerbaijan, not exactly with hostility but with apprehension, and the fact that Iranians consider a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia probable, forced the head of the Iranian Security Council to pay a diplomatic visit first to one country, then to another.

During these visits, they certainly discussed not only—and not so much—bilateral relations, but also the ‘Zangezur corridor’, logistics, and Iran’s peacemaking efforts to prevent Azerbaijan from attacking Armenia. I am not saying that Azerbaijan will attack Armenia; I am saying that Iran is considering that option, and this worries Iranians very much,” the expert noted.

According to Abbas Juma, Iran is closely monitoring the supply of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan.

“All the events in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon are perceived in Iran as links in one chain that should shackle Iran and neutralize the Iranian threat to Israel. I do not rule out that Baku, Tel Aviv, Washington, and Ankara may regard the events in Syria as Iran’s weakness. Moreover, I repeat that Iran takes this logical chain into account and believes that this is a very possible scenario. That is why diplomatic visits on the one hand and military exercises on the other have intensified. And by the way, not only in Iran.

We see that the number of weapons imported to Azerbaijan from Israel has increased, and if we follow how the import of Israeli weapons has increased in recent years, we can state that this is more than half of all weapons in Azerbaijan. This worries Iranians greatly; Iranians are not worried about the Azerbaijani culture, the Azerbaijani language, and so on. All this is native to Iran; all this, according to the Iranians, came from the bosom of Iran. Iranians are concerned about the Iranophobic sentiments in Azerbaijan, which are encouraged in every possible way by Israel and the United States,” Juma said.