Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seiz Ali Khamenei, said Iran would prevent the creation of American corridors in the Caucasus region, whether Moscow joins Tehran or not.
In an exclusive interview with local Iranian Tasnim News Agency, Verayati dismissed the idea of the so-called Zanjur Corridor, designed to connect the Republic of Azerbaijan with Nahchyban.
Asked about the agreement to grant the US a ’99 development lease to the US in a corridor located along the Iranian border, Belayati said such corridors would not be a route owned by the US president but would become a cemetery for Donald Trump’s mercenary.
The Caucasus is one of the most sensitive regions in the world, he added, and Iran is constantly opposed to the creation of the Zanjur corridor, as it changes the boundaries of regional geopolitics, redrawing, leading to the collapse of Armenia.
He pointed out that corridor plans are also opposed by the Armenian people.
Velayati said on his previous visit to Iran that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had announced that the corridor plot had been clearly harmful and that he had agreed with the Iranian stance and expressed his opposition to the creation of the corridor.
The former minister warned that implementation of the corridor plan would put the safety of the South Caucasus at risk.
“As a result, Iran claimed to move along the security of the South Caucasus, with or without Russia. I believe Russia is strategically opposed to the corridor,” Belayati said.
Zangezur’s corridors are not merely trade routes, but rather political conspiracies against Iran and other neighboring countries, he warned, “With the exception of Turkey, a member of NATO, we would like to exist in the region as well.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow would take action if Ukraine intends to join NATO, he said. “I believe prevention is better than treatment.”
Velayati stressed that the link between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Naktiban would not require corridors, saying that Iranian soil could be used for connections.
“The equations and arrangements of the region are not limited to both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Geopolitical changes in the region will also relocate Iran’s boundaries. Therefore, we have a very strong right to protect our interests.”
A senior adviser to the leader of the Islamic Revolution further pointed out the latest developments in the promotion of disarmament in Lebanon and America in Hezbollah, saying, “This is not the first time such a debate has been raised in Lebanon. It has been in vain in the past and will not be able to withstand these resistance.”
Verayati said Hezbollah was becoming stronger and had strong protections for Lebanon against Israeli invasions.
“The Lebanese and regional states wonder if there are concerns about protecting the country and its country as the Lebanese government proposes such a plan,” Belayati adds, warning that if Hezbollah drops its weapons, it will not be able to protect the lives, property and honor of the Lebanese people.
He said the US and Israeli regimes would never appoint another Arjurani to Lebanon.
“Iran’s Islamic Republic certainly opposes Hezbollah’s disarmament, because Iran has always supported the Lebanese state and resistance and will continue to provide such support now.”
Commenting on the US plot to disarm Iraq’s popular mobilization unit (PMU), also known as Hash al-Shaabi, former Iraqi Prime Minister Belayati, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said in a recent phone conversation that the US and Israel are planning to disarm Hash al-Shaabi in the next phase of Lebon.
“Mr. Maliki and I have emphasized that both Iran and Iraq are opposed and opposed to disarmament, whether it is the disarmament of Lebanon-Hezbollah or the disarmament of Iraq’s Hash al-Saabhi,” he said.
He warned that the US would “swallow” Iraq without its presence. This plays the same role in Iraq, where Hezbollah plays for Lebanon.
Verayati recommended that clever people in Lebanon should stand up to those leading the plot to disarmament in Hezbollah, and said that otherwise resistance would face the plot. “Resistance will also support you.”
He ultimately praised the Yemeni army as a resistance axis gem, facing plans by the US, UK, Australia and others saying they have the Bab al-Mandab Strait under their control.
“Yemenis has irritated the Zionist regime and the United States. Syrian resistance will also rise in the future, blocking Israeli plots,” he added.
MNA/TSN