Iran rejects the idea of conducting foreign forces in the South Caucasus for “Trump Corridor”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paisinian with Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: AA / Abaca / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Iran on Sunday rejected a possible development of foreign forces in the South Caucasus, referring to the United States, for the construction of the so-called “Coridor Trump”, agreed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, near the Iranian border, EFE and Agerpres reports.
“We are firmly opposed to the external intervention or the presence of forces outside the region because it exacerbates the geopolitical complexities,” said the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ismail Baghai, in statements for the state radio station, according to the IRNA agency.
Baghai said that his country considers a “red line” the presence of foreign forces very close to his northern border with Armenia.
The Iranian official stressed that the Armenian authorities have assured Tehran that this “Coridor Trump” will involve Armenian companies and an American company registered according to the Armenian legislation, “without the development of foreign forces”.
The “Trump Corridor” between Armenia and Azerbaijan scares Iran. Tehran is afraid of the presence of US military on the border
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on August 8, at the White House, on the creation of the route known so far as Zangezur and renamed “Trump Corridor for Peace and International Prosperity” (Tripp).
This corridor, which would directly connect Azerbaijan with Nakhicevan's Encca through the territory of Armenia, avoiding the passage through Iran, will be operated on American capital and is considered a key element of the peace agreement signed between Baku and Erevan.
Baghai has stressed the importance of South Caucas for Iran and said that his country follows the events in the region carefully “without simplifying or minimizing any problem”.
He stressed that this region “has a significant political, economic and geopolitical value for us and for the states of the region.”
From the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan to build the “Trump Corridor” under US auspices, Tehran has intensified high level consultations with Armenian authorities to prevent this route from affecting its strategic role in the region.
On Monday, Iranian president, Masud Pezeshkian, will travel to Erevan for an official visit in which he will discuss this topic with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paşinian.
Since 1988, Iran has been the point of connection between Azerbaijan and Eclava SA Nakhicevan, which, besides the generation of income from crossing rights, gives Tehran a strategic value as a bridge between the Caspian Sea and the Middle East.
However, through the new proposed route, Iran is afraid that it will lose influence and security in the South Caucasus because the initiative has been agreed in times of high tensions between Iran and the West due to the Iranian nuclear program and after the American bombings on its atomic installations in June, in the middle of the 12 -day war with Israel.
