Iran on Thursday protested plans for the Zangezur Corridor in the South Caucasus following positive remarks from Russia, which has shifted its policy on the transport route, which also concerns Azerbaijan and Türkiye.
"Any threat from North, South, East, or West to the territorial integrity of our neighbors or redrawing of boundaries is totally unacceptable and a red line for Iran," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X.
Araghchi’s statement came after Russia said it supported a peace agreement between regional rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia and that "communication must stay open" about opening a land route in the region.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are currently working to sign a peace treaty to end a decadeslong dispute over the Karabakh enclave, over which they fought two wars in the 1990s and 2020 and which Baku recaptured in a one-day offensive last September.
The Zangezur Corridor is a transportation concept that is being gradually implemented to secure Azerbaijan's access to the Nakhchivan exclave by skipping Armenia. It, however, remains a contentious issue in peace talks.
Moscow supports Azerbaijan’s demand to get unimpeded access to the Nakhchivan enclave by opening the Zangezur Corridor through Armenia, which would cut off Iran’s direct land access to Armenia.
The corridor is a geopolitical link for Türkiye to Azerbaijan and, beyond that, Central Asia.
Moscow and Baku want Russia to monitor and control the corridor, but Yerevan and Tehran oppose such a scheme and argue that even if a transport route were to be established, Armenia should have control over it.
Iran interprets recent statements by Russian officials as Moscow supporting Azerbaijan for the Zangezur Corridor. Tehran has opposed the project from the start, saying it does not want "geopolitical changes" in the Caucasus.
According to BBC Türkçe, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that a senior official met with Russia's Tehran Ambassador Alexei Dedov to reiterate Iran’s position.
The statement said Iran was trying to "help develop cooperation among regional countries" and stressed "paying attention to interests and legitimate concerns."
The two officials also reportedly discussed the upcoming meeting of the Iranian, Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, as well as the meeting of the "3+3 consultation mechanism."
The "3+3 platform" includes Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as their neighbors Iran, Russia and Türkiye.
But only two meetings have been held in this format since it was proposed three years ago, and Georgia has refused to participate in the meetings since their inception.
Türkiye supports the Zangezur Corridor project.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July hailed the corridor as a "strategic route that will serve in everyone’s interest, especially Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran" and said Tehran and Baku would be "relieved" if it becomes operational.
On the other hand, Armenia proposes an alternative project called the "Peace Corridor," which would give Yerevan greater control.
The initiative envisions significant transportation and communications infrastructure investments to connect the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, facilitating the flow of trade, energy and people between Armenia, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan announced in June that Iran supports the "Peace Corridor" project.
Tehran also accuses Moscow of pushing the Zangezur Corridor project as a "preemptive move" to pressure Iran. Some say it’s meant to deter it from starting a dialogue with the U.S.