Iran and Armenia Launch High-Level Talks on Zangezur Corridor, Tehran Says

Senior-level consultations between Armenia and Iran over the Zangezur corridor are set to begin on Monday, according to Iran’s foreign ministry, which reiterated its opposition to foreign involvement in the strategic route.

“We have been in close contact with neighboring countries in the South Caucasus and have friendly relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan,” ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters during his weekly briefing, The Caspian Post reports citing Iranian media.

“It is natural that our expectation and practice is to be in touch on developments that directly or indirectly involve the interests of the Islamic Republic.”

Tehran has long been in communication with Yerevan and had previously encouraged both Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalize a peace agreement, Baghaei said.

“Today and tomorrow, high-level consultations will be held with officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Armenia to be informed of developments,” he added.

The statement comes after a US-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed Friday at the White House, granting Washington leasing rights to develop the corridor - renamed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” - linking mainland Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through southern Armenia.

On Sunday, Ali Bagheri Kani, secretary of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, called the US role a “challenge to regional security” and warned, “The Islamic Republic will not easily overlook the issue of Zangezur.”

While the foreign ministry welcomed the peace text as a step toward stability, it stressed that projects near Iran’s borders must advance “within the framework of mutual interests, with respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and without foreign interference.”