Amid intense discussions surrounding the “Zangezur Corridor,” involving Russia, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, Baku and Tehran held significant negotiations in recent days regarding an alternative transport corridor, which is referred to as the “Araz Road” in Iran. During these negotiations, the head of the Azerbaijan Railways, Rovshan Rustamov, met in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Zakeri Sardroudi.
According to official reports, the parties reached a preliminary agreement to establish a railway connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, through Iranian territory, which will serve as an alternative to the “Zangezur Corridor” running through Armenia.
According to the plan, the railway line currently being built on Azerbaijani territory, the Horadiz-Agbend railway, will be connected to Iran via a new bridge under construction over the Araz River and then linked to Nakhchivan.
It should be noted that the Azerbaijan-Iran agreements include the construction of not only a railway but also a highway, along with the installation of fiber-optic cables and power lines for electricity exports.
It is worth mentioning that the military-political tensions between Baku and Tehran, which arose after the signing of the Azerbaijan-Iran agreement on the “Araz Road,” significantly delayed its implementation. However, by mid-2023, relations between the two neighboring countries began to improve, leading both sides to return to cooperation and accelerate work on the project for the future transport corridor.
In October 2023, in the Zangilan region, Azerbaijani and Iranian officials laid the foundation of a new bridge over the Araz River near the village of Agbend. After that, to fully operate the 55-kilometer route that will connect Zangilan with Nakhchivan via Iran, only one highway and railway bridge remain to be built.
It should be noted that the “Araz Road” not only aims to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, but it will also become part of the international “North-South” transport corridor, as well as the “Turkic corridor,” which will link Turkey to Central Asia through Azerbaijan. In the future, new highways and railways along the Araz River on Iranian territory are planned, connecting this corridor with Iran’s transport network and providing access to the Persian Gulf via the port of Bandar Abbas.
In short, this is a project of significant geopolitical importance.
According to Iranian expert circles, the “Araz Road,” bypassing Armenian territory, could become an alternative to the “Zangezur Corridor,” with the potential to reduce Iran’s concerns.
On the other hand, if Armenia signs a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and establishes diplomatic relations with Turkey, the current advantages of the “Araz Corridor” may no longer seem as attractive. The situation may only change if nationalist and conservative movements, which oppose peace with Azerbaijan and the normalization of relations with Turkey, replace Pashinyan’s government in Armenia.
It is known that some Iranian experts view the “Araz Road” project with caution and skepticism. In their view, Azerbaijan’s support for this project is temporary and primarily aimed at pressuring Yerevan to cooperate on the “Zangezur Corridor.”
In other words, a portion of Iran’s political establishment still believes that for both Baku and Ankara, the “Zangezur Corridor” remains the preferred option and that if a peace agreement with Armenia is signed and direct land and rail links between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan are established through Armenian territory, Baku will abandon the route through Iran.
However, official Tehran is interested in establishing such a strategically important transport network. Moreover, Turkey has no objections to the “Araz Road.”
Recently, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu stated in an interview with Kanal7 that the transport corridor connecting Azerbaijan’s eastern regions with Nakhchivan could pass through both Iran and Armenia. According to Uraloglu, the “Zangezur Corridor” is, in any case, either an alternative or a complement to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which could increase its capacity. In other words, the Turkish side is quite satisfied with the route from Central Asia via the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan, which will reach Kars through Armenia or Iran, via Nakhchivan, Dilucu, and Igdir.
At the same time, Uraloglu emphasized that the infrastructure on the most important sections of the Azerbaijani side is “almost completed.”
It should be recalled that the issue of the “Zangezur Corridor,” which had caused considerable geopolitical tension, was temporarily removed from the agenda of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. It is known that the parties agreed to revisit this topic after reaching a peace agreement.
Therefore, it can be expected that the main focus will shift to the implementation of the “Araz Road.” Moreover, for its completion, only a new highway section of approximately 50-60 kilometers needs to be built along the Araz River on Iranian territory.
As for the construction of the railway, this is a much more complex task. Azerbaijan began building the Horadiz-Agbend railway line immediately after the conclusion of the 44-day war and has completed most of the work so far. However, for the construction of the railway line from Agbend to Ordubad via Iran, the parties need to resolve several issues, including financing, construction management, and railway track standards — it is still undecided whether they will follow European standards used in Iran or Russian standards used in Azerbaijan.
Farhad Mammadov
Translated from haqqin.az
