Iran has toned down its opposition to the proposed Zangezur Corridor linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, adopting a more cautious stance after years of confrontation, Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah said in an opinion article on Thursday.
The project, part of the August 8 peace agreement signed in Washington between Azerbaijan and Armenia with US mediation, has long been opposed by Tehran.
According to Daily Sabah, Iranian officials feared the corridor could sever Iran’s land link to Armenia, weaken its regional transit role and strengthen Turkish and Azerbaijani influence in the South Caucasus.
In the past, Iran reinforced border positions, staged military drills and issued sharp warnings against what one adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called an “American corridor.”
But President Masoud Pezeshkian and his government have recently struck a more measured tone.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said the Iran-Armenia border would remain intact, while Pezeshkian told reporters that Tehran’s “core concerns had been taken into account” and welcomed the peace deal as a positive step.
Pezeshkian visited Yerevan soon after the agreement, where Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reassured him that Armenia’s sovereignty would not be compromised and no foreign troops would be stationed in the corridor.
Analyst Mustafa Caner wrote that Iran’s new approach reflects limited capacity to confront multiple crises at once. Unlike conservative figures in Tehran who warn of foreign interference, the government has refrained from military escalation and is pursuing diplomacy to secure its position.
