By Heydar Isayev Eurasianet

Azerbaijan and Iran have signed a transit agreement that could have big implications for Armenia.

One of Azerbaijan’s key demands after winning the 44-day war in 2020 was for Armenia to allow it overland access to its Nakhchivan exclave, a piece of territory surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Since Armenia surrendered, Baku has persistently campaigned for this route, which it calls the “Zangezur corridor” and which would run over Soviet-era railways and roads across Armenia’s Syunik province.

The November 10, 2020, ceasefire statement even included language that Russia would “guarantee the security of transport connections” between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan across Armenian territory.

Talks have stalled as tensions between the two nations continue to fester.

Nevertheless, it came as something of a surprise to observers in Baku when Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Ghasemi arrived on March 11 to sign a memorandum of understanding allowing for new trade and communications links connecting the East Zangezur region of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan.

Little about the memorandum was made public, but the way Baku described it as a “corridor” suggests Azerbaijani vehicles will be allowed to cross Iranian territory without submitting to Iranian customs checks.

The terms provide for a new highway, a railway as well as unspecified energy infrastructure. Additionally, four bridges will be built over the Aras River, which defines the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran – two road and two railway bridges.

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