The main advisor to the Iranian supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday August 9, that his country would not allow the creation of a corridor in the Caucasus, which would connect Azerbaijan to his Enclave du Nakhitchevan, a project supported by the American president, Donald Trump. “The implementation of this conspiracy would endanger the security of the Southern Caucasus and Iran stressed that with or without Russia, it would act to guarantee the safety of the South Caucasus”the ACHBAR AKBAR ACHBER TO THE AGENIM OF TASNIM.
The agreement, concluded on Friday in Washington by President Azerbaijani, Ilham Aliev, and the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pachinian, ends the territorial conflict between their countries for decades. He provides for the creation of a transit zone crossing Armenia to connect Azerbaijan to his Nakhitchevan enclave, a longtime claim of Baku.
The United States will have development rights for the corridor, called “Trump path for peace and international prosperity”, in this strategic region and rich in hydrocarbons. Iran has long opposed this corridor, fearing that it would cut it from the Caucasus and have a foreign presence at its border.
Regional power in the Caucasus, Russia, for its part, cautiously praised the Washington agreement. “We hope that this initiative will help to advance the peace program”commented on the Russian foreign ministry on Saturday, considering that this meeting between Armenian leaders and Azerbaijani was « positive ».
Moscow, which has also multiplied diplomatic efforts for years concerning relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, however stressed the need for these countries to have a “Direct dialogue, without external help”. “The involvement of extra -regional actors must help strengthen the peace program and not create additional difficulties”warned the Russian ministry.
Although Russia remains a close ally of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the relations it has with these states have deteriorated in the past two years, to the point that they are turning more and more towards Westerners.
“Peace has been obtained”
NATO has more resolutely congratulated the Washington agreement project, evoking “A significant step forward” and “Progress towards peace”. Paris, London and the European Commission have also expressed their satisfaction. For its part, the UN was delighted with a “Important step in the standardization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan”.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried, after a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart and ally, Ilham Aliev, that “The progress made to peace” were “Satisfactory”. If Iran is opposed to the corridor, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghtchi, however praised the peace agreement between Erevan and Bakou negotiated by Washington, but warned, like Moscow, against “Any foreign intervention” in the Caucasus.
According to the draft agreement concluded in Washington on Friday, Armenia and Azerbaijan “Strengthen to stop definitively any conflict, to open trade and diplomatic relations and to respect territorial sovereignty and all of” of each, according to Donald Trump. It is unknown, however, whether or not this commitment is binding.
After the signing of the text, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pachinian, nevertheless praised a ” peace “ History with Azerbaijan. “For months, I have repeated that there will be no war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, that there will be peace. Today we can say that peace has been obtained ”said Mr. Pachinian, who faces a protest movement in his country for his policy towards his neighbor.
The territorial conflict between the two countries concerns in particular Karabakh, a mountainous enclave which was at the center of two wars, one at the fall of the USSR and the other in 2020. Azerbaijan finally took it back to the Armenian separatists after a flash offensive in 2023. Bakou and Erevan have been trying for months to get on a peace agreement. Azerbaijan had presented a list of requirements to Armenia, including the addition of amendments to the Constitution including the abandonment of any territorial claim on Karabakh.
