Israeli expert ponders true reasoning behind Tehran's distortion of Zangazur project

It seems that Tehran is once again getting carried away with the confidence in its own power. In any case, such a conclusion can be drawn from the statements of Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani.

Starting with him, admonitions and hidden threats against Azerbaijan have once again been voiced. It is clear, of course, that the Iranian diplomat was answering a deliberately provocative question from Armenian media, but this does not absolve him of responsibility for what he said.

According to Sobhani, Tehran supports Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and opposes any change of borders.

"We are not against the opening of communication routes and have provided such routes to Azerbaijan as well. But all of them should be under the control of the countries, through the territory of which they pass, especially in the case of Armenia," the ambassador said insistently and threateningly.

One has to wonder why Tehran repeats the phrase about "changing borders" and supporting Armenia's sovereignty so often, like a mantra. Is it a seasonal aggravation of Tehran or a syndrome of chronic nervousness? Has Azerbaijan violated anyone's borders?

As Israeli journalist and researcher of Iran, Michael Borodkin noted in a conversation with Caliber.Az, that Tehran is indeed constantly saying that it will not allow "border changes".

At the same time, Iranian propagandists, in his opinion, regularly voice the same series of arguments against the Zangazur corridor - they say it will cut Iran off from Armenia, that it is a "pan-Turkic project", that Azerbaijan is trying to seize something from Armenia.

"Moreover, Iranian experts have no doubt that, in general, this is an Anglo-American-Israeli-NATO project that is supposed to disrupt the realisation of the North-South corridor, etc. And the fact that these arguments have nothing to do with reality does not confuse anyone in Tehran," Borodkin says.

At the same time, he notes, the Iranians have warned and continue to warn that the drills they conducted in the areas bordering Azerbaijan in 2022 were intended to demonstrate their readiness to act if a certain "red line" is violated.

"Against the same background, there were statements that Iran views Armenia's security as its own. So, I would say that Iran's ambassador to Armenia simply continues to voice the same position.

The Iranian regime says that it is ready to reduce tensions in relations with Azerbaijan, it is ready to move towards rapprochement and strive for good-neighbourly relations. One can further wonder why the essence of the Zangazur corridor is being distorted - because of a real misunderstanding of the goals of this project or, for example, because of Iran's desire not to lose control over the land connection between the two parts of Azerbaijan. Perhaps there is a combination of both factors," Borodkin suggested in conclusion.