Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's words that "the Zangezur corridor is not an Armenia-related problem. ... it's an Iran-related problem," the more it goes on, the more it's confirmed. Tehran regime is trying lately to "frighten" Armenia with Zangezur corridor as much as possible. Which, they say, if opened, will lead to war, isolation of Armenia from Iran and "genocide" and other disasters.

Mohsen Pakain, Iran's former ambassador to Azerbaijan, frightens Armenians with war. In an interview with Iranian news website Bahar News, commenting on Erdogan's words that the obstacle for creation of Zangezur corridor is not Armenia, but Iran, he categorically stated that Turkey, because of disagreements with Armenia, allegedly "stands for deprivation of Yerevan of sovereignty over Zangezur corridor" and "provokes Azerbaijan". According to him, this prolongs the war, and Turkey prevents the establishment of peace in the Caucasus and the opening of transit routes. Mohsen Pakain believes that "as soon as Turkey stops provoking Azerbaijan, the problems will be solved.

 Mohsen Pakain did not specify what the "provocations of Turkey" consisted of, but one thing was clear - he was included in the information wave of Turkophobia, visibly stirred up by the authorities in Tehran. This is not the first time Mohsen Pakain has made scandalous provocative statements.

Thus, after the attack on the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran on January 27, 2023, an anti-Azerbaijani campaign was launched in Iran. At that time, Mohsen Pakain said that "the Zionist regime (Israel) and the West are plotting to turn the Republic of Azerbaijan into another Ukraine for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mohsen Pakain made a bid for a possible war.

Another Iranian expert on the Caucasus, Mohammad Ismail Alikhan, in an interview with ParsToday stated that, allegedly, if the Zangezur corridor is created, "Armenia will lose its connection with the south, and Armenians will have to obtain Azerbaijan's consent and permission to travel to Iran. This is a blatant and not the last scaremongering designed for Armenians. Mohammad Ismail Alikhan speculatively draws an analogy with the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin road, where Armenians entering Azerbaijan indeed have their documents checked.

Azerbaijan has set up a checkpoint on its internationally recognized territory on the Lachin road, which does not require much intelligence to understand. It has every right to inspect cargo and check the documents of all those entering its territory. By definition, no Azerbaijani checkpoints are foreseen at the Armenian-Iranian border in Zangezur when entering from the internationally recognized territory of Armenia into the territory of Iran. No one will prevent Armenians from travelling to Iran as they do now.

Nevertheless, Mohammad Ismail Alihan, in order to intimidate Armenians, concocts that if the Zangezur corridor is opened, it will supposedly mean that this territory will pass to Azerbaijan. Further, the Tehran regime fears that "if Armenia gives Azerbaijan territory in the south, on the border with Iran, it will cease to be a neighbour of Iran. "Iran has the shortest common border with Armenia (38km). It is the gateway of communication between Iran and Europe and is of great importance," Mohammad Ismail Alikhan added. In his opinion, the opening of Zangezur corridor will allegedly "close this gateway.

However, Zangezour corridor, which is about 40 kilometers long, is meant to open new communications and not to block the existing ones. This route is planned to be implemented in order to establish transport communication between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, there will be a direct land route from Turkey to Azerbaijan, and from there access through the Caspian to Central Asia and China.

The other route - from Iran to Armenia and back via Zangezur will not only not be blocked, but a convenient railway connection between Iran and Armenia via Julfa and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic will be added to it.  The opening of the Zangezur corridor will bring nothing but economic benefits to Armenia.

But Iran, yes, with the opening of the Zangezur corridor loses its current leverage on Azerbaijan in the form of control over transit between its main territory and Nakhichevan. Tehran clearly does not want to lose this lever. Nor does it want to allow the creation of a "common Turkic transit route linking Turkey and Central Asia. Therefore, Tehran is trying to intimidate with "horrors of Zangezur corridor" Armenian nationalists, who love to panic the whole world over another invented "genocide threat".

George Mazniashvili