Baku suggests making Zangezur corridor part of North-South corridor

The Zangezur corridor will not only connect the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, but will also become a new route for interregional transportation, both in the East-West direction and in the North-South direction, since it will create an alternative way of delivering Russian goods to Iran, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening of the 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum in Khankendi.

Zangezur corridor is North-South corridor

The Azerbaijani leader stressed that the Zangezur corridor will connect many countries, when other transit routes are becoming more problematic. The potential of the Zangezur corridor in the initial stage is estimated at 15 million tons of cargo.

"We not only talk about connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, we are also talking about an international transit corridor," Ilham Aliyev said.

The head of state noted that the Azerbaijani section of this railway will be completed in the spring or summer of 2026.

He recalled that the restored section of this railway was an integral part of the Azerbaijani railway in Soviet times and did not belong to the Armenian railway, this line connects Azerbaijan through Armenia with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and then it went to the territory of Iran with access to the Persian Gulf. 

"With the implementation of the Zangezur corridor, we will essentially open another direction of the North-South corridor. Not only what everyone is talking about: from Russia through Azerbaijan, Iran to Rasht, but also through East Zangezur and other parts of the Zangezur region to Iran, and then to Türkiye. Therefore, huge prospects are opening up for increasing the flow of cargo," Ilham Aliyev said.

Armenian issue of Zangezur corridor

There are no technical difficulties on the section through Nakhchivan to Tabriz. However, there is a political problem there - Armenia’s unwillingness to participate in the Zangezur Corridor project.

"Unfortunately, no work has been done on the Armenian side in the last five years, as this issue is deliberately removed from the agenda. But under such circumstances, the chances for Armenia to ever become a transit country are close to zero. If they continue to block this process, I think that they will find themselves not only in transport isolation, which they already are in today, but also in political isolation to a certain extent," Ilham Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani president said that it's about an access from one part of Azerbaijan to another, so Azerbaijani cargo and Azerbaijani citizens should not have to face Armenian border security - or anyone else, for that matter.

"We cannot risk the life and health of our people. Therefore, there should be no physical contact and there must be guaranteed security measures so our people and cargo can travel freely. This is a very legitimate demand," Ilham Aliyev said.

How to organize this - this is a question for the Armenian leadership. On Azerbaijan's territory, there will be no other operators, no lease, no rent, Baku will do everything itself, the Azerbaijani head of state stressed.