Iran opposes US President Donald Trump’s plan for a proposed transit corridor through southern Armenia linking two parts of Azerbaijan as a threat to its security, a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader told Armenia’s ambassador in Tehran on Monday.
“The so-called Trump plan regarding the Caucasus is no different from the Zangezur Corridor, and the Islamic Republic is completely opposed to it,” Ali Akbar Velayati said during a meeting with Armenia's Ambassador to Tehran Grigor Hakobyan.
Velayati is foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The corridor, he added, creates “conditions for NATO’s presence north of Iran" and "presents the security of northern Iran and southern Russia with a serious threat."
His remarks come as Armenia and Azerbaijan move ahead with a US-brokered peace deal signed at the White House in August, which includes plans for the new transit corridor.
The planned route — formally named the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” — will run through Armenia’s Syunik region, linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and on to Turkey and Europe.
By bypassing Iranian territory, it undercuts Tehran’s land link between Azerbaijan and Europe and gives Washington a new foothold in the South Caucasus.
Velayati warned that the plan for a new transit corridor in the Caucasus is, in Iran’s view, the same as the Zangezur Corridor—a project Iran has long opposed because it could change borders and increase foreign military influence near Iran.
Velayati said the plan is “practically the same project whose name has merely been changed and is now being pursued in the form of the entry of American companies into Armenia.”
Velayati accused Washington of using economic projects as a doorway to expand its military presence in the region.
“Experience has shown that the Americans first enter sensitive regions with seemingly economic projects, but gradually their presence expands to military and security dimensions," he said.
"The opening of America’s presence at Iran’s borders in any form has clear security consequences.”
The message emerged at a joint meeting between media and tourism officials hosted by the strategic council of Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and the media affairs department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, according to ISNA.
Participants said tourism increasingly depends on professional narrative-building to counter negative perceptions and present Iran’s security and cultural capacity to foreign audiences.
Officials argued that media should move beyond a passive role and become an active partner in promoting tourism and related industries.
Mohammadreza Norouzpour, deputy media affairs minister, said tourism cannot gain visibility without media engagement and that effective communication requires sustained, credible storytelling.
He said developing a participatory model between media and tourism actors was essential to reposition the sector domestically and internationally.
Speaking at the meeting, Mohsen Haji Saeid, head of the tourism working group and chairman of the national association of tour guides, said restoring Iran’s image abroad – especially following the recent conflict – was now the core issue facing the tourism industry.
He criticized traditional promotional approaches and called for a comprehensive information bank to present data on safety and tourism potential.
Other speakers emphasized the role of private-sector participation, health tourism, visual content, and the use of tour guides as cultural ambassadors.
Officials also discussed leveraging major international events, such as the World Cup, to amplify Iran’s narrative.
The meeting concluded with agreement to continue the tourism working group’s activities on a permanent, issue-driven basis, aimed at strengthening media-tourism coordination and improving perceptions of Iran among domestic and international audiences.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein dismissed Iran’s statement, saying: “The world record in deception belongs to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman."
"Iran has carried out deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews in the past and constantly seeks to murder Israelis and Jews around the world.”
No public evidence links Iran or any foreign element to the attack.
Israel’s response came after Iran’s foreign ministry issued a formal denunciation of the shooting at a Hanukkah gathering at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, where at least 11 people were killed and 29 wounded, according to Australian police.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei had said in a post on X on Sunday that "terror violence and mass killing shall be condemned, wherever they're committed, as unlawful and criminal."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar earlier spoke with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, after the attack, which Canberra has designated a terrorist incident. Wong told Sa’ar that Australia was determined to apprehend all those involved.
Sa’ar urged Australia to take stronger measures against antisemitism, telling Wong that since October 7 there had been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in the country, including violent incitement online and in public spaces.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said Israeli officials were closely watching the investigation.
“The writing was on the wall,” he told Ynet, citing a rise in antisemitic incidents and prior intelligence warnings of a high likelihood of an attack.
He said Australian authorities were examining whether an external actor may have been involved, amid a growing assessment in Israel pointing to Iran.
“From the video footage I received, it appears the terrorists studied the area. They fired from a distance and used long-barreled weapons,” Maimon said, adding that Australian investigators were still processing information.
Australian police said one suspected attacker was killed, another was in critical condition and a third may have been involved. Several suspected explosive devices were found and neutralized near the scene.
Iran has not commented on Israel’s response. Australian authorities have said their investigation is ongoing and have not publicly named any foreign state as responsible.
Police said gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach on Sunday. One suspected attacker was killed and another was in critical condition, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told reporters, adding authorities were examining whether a third gunman was involved.
Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, told The Times of Israel that Australia’s foreign ministry was examining whether Iran could be behind the attack.
“The Foreign Ministry tells me it is investigating whether Iran is behind the shooting. To me, that says there is a real possibility,” he said.
Australian officials have not publicly confirmed any foreign involvement. Lanyon urged calm and said investigators were working through multiple lines of inquiry.
Later in the day, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei condemned the attack, saying: “We condemn the violent attack in Sydney, Australia. Terror violence and mass killing shall be condemned, wherever they’re committed.”
In August, Australia accused Iran of involvement in two antisemitic arson attacks and ordered its ambassador to leave the country within seven days.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said intelligence gathered by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization showed Iran had directed attacks on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and a synagogue in Melbourne last year.
Israeli authorities said they were also investigating responsibility for the attack amid concerns it may have been orchestrated by a state actor or militant groups, Ynet said.
Israeli officials cited Iran as a primary suspect if a state were involved, while also examining possible links to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to Israeli media reports.
A senior Israeli security official told Israel Hayom that “in recent months there has been increased activity by Iran to orchestrate attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,” adding that investigators believed the “direction and infrastructure” of the attack originated in Tehran.
An Israeli intelligence source cited by the newspaper said activity by Iran and its allies had “markedly increased” in recent months. Iran has not commented on the allegations.
The Bondi Beach shooting came almost 11 years after the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney. Two police officers were among those injured in Sunday’s attack, authorities said.
Leibler said the shooting could have lasting consequences for Australia’s Jewish community.
“I’m trying to process what impact this is going to have on the Jewish community of Australia,” he said, calling it one of the deadliest attacks on Jews globally in recent years. He added that concerns about antisemitism were already prompting some members of the community to consider leaving Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack and said authorities would bring those responsible to justice.
“We have accepted Lebanon’s new ambassador, and I hope the process of accepting our new ambassador in Lebanon will follow its natural course,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said during his weekly briefing on Sunday when asked about the reported suspension.
Baghaei rejected suggestions that diplomatic ties had been disrupted, saying relations between Iran and Lebanon were long-standing and ongoing.
Iran already has an ambassador in Beirut and that Lebanon’s new ambassador has recently taken up his post in Tehran, he added.
“The relevant process regarding Iran’s new ambassador in Lebanon has been underway for some time,” Baghaei said. “We hope this process will proceed in a normal manner in Lebanon as well, and that our new ambassador will be stationed there.”
Lebanon’s foreign minister, Youssef Raji, has declined to advance the administrative steps required to approve Iran’s proposed ambassador, including submitting the credentials to the cabinet and presidency, the Lebanese pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday.
Iran’s role in Lebanon and the wider region had fueled instability, Raji told Al Jazeera on Friday, saying Beirut remained open to dialogue if Tehran stopped supporting Hezbollah and ended what he described as interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
“Iran’s role in Lebanon and the region has been very negative,” Raji said. “We have a problem with Iran, but we are open to dialogue, provided it stops interfering in our internal affairs and halts funding an illegal organization in Lebanon.”
Iran has long backed Hezbollah and has rejected international and domestic calls for the group to disarm, arguing that continued Israeli actions justify its armed presence.
The diplomatic dispute followed an exchange earlier this month in which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi invited Raji to visit Tehran. Raji declined, citing unfavorable conditions, and suggested meeting in a third country.
Baghaei dismisses Venezuela meddling
In the same briefing, Baghaei brushed off comments attributed to Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado accusing Iran of interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs. He said the claims were politically motivated and unrelated to facts on the ground.
“It is not appropriate to respond to the remarks of someone who has shown no value or attachment to her own country,” Baghaei said.
On reports of Iranian interference in Caracas, he said: “These remarks are irrelevant. Venezuela, as a sovereign country, sets its foreign relations according to its national interests, engages with partners on the basis of mutual respect, and shapes its foreign policy accordingly.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this month cast Venezuela as a regional launchpad for Iranian influence, describing Maduro’s government as a narcotics transit hub that hosts Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah
Little public evidence exists about the security relationship Venezuela has with Iran or its armed allies. Tehran and Caracas boosted ties under Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, who cast himself as a bulwark against what he called American imperialism.
Machado said on Wednesday that their influence in Venezuela amounted to an invasion while not directly addressing whether she supported stepped up US military attacks on the country to bring about Maduro's downfall.
“Venezuela has already been invaded,” she said at a news conference alongside the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Thursday.
“We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents, we have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime. We have the Colombian guerrillas, the drug cartels.”
