{"id":33361,"date":"2025-08-17T05:16:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/?p=33361"},"modified":"2025-08-17T05:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:16:07","slug":"iranian-press-review-us-brokered-azerbaijan-armenia-deal-a-great-betrayal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/17\/iranian-press-review-us-brokered-azerbaijan-armenia-deal-a-great-betrayal\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian press review: US-brokered Azerbaijan-Armenia deal a ‘great betrayal’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

‘A graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries’<\/h3>\n

The agreement reached at the White House between the leaders of Armenia<\/a> and Azerbaijan<\/a> to secure peace in the South Caucasus has provoked fury among Iranian conservatives, with one saying the region will be turned into a \u201cgraveyard for Trump\u2019s mercenaries\u201d.<\/p>\n

Iranian politicians have hit out at the plan to create the Zangezur corridor \u2013 a proposed land link between Azerbaijan and its autonomous exclave, Nakhchivan \u2013 with the involvement of US<\/a> forces.<\/p>\n

The plan also involves the corridor being developed by American companies and rebranded the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (Tripp).<\/p>\n

Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs adviser to Iran<\/a>\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said<\/a>: \u201cIs the South Caucasus an unclaimed area that Trump can rent? The Caucasus is one of the most sensitive regions in the world. This passage will not become a corridor owned by Donald Trump, but a graveyard for Trump\u2019s mercenaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kayhan daily echoed Velayati, writing<\/a>: \u201cFinally, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to this great betrayal! They have opened the path to create a military and intelligence base for the United States and Israel<\/a> in the north of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayhan, which is run by hardline groups close to Iran\u2019s supreme leader, also called for the Strait of Hormuz to be closed to US and Israeli ships.<\/p>\n

Ali Bagheri Kani, a member of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, also condemned the deal, saying<\/a>, \u201cThis is not an issue Iran can easily ignore\u2026 Foreigners, especially the United States, wanting to enter the Caucasus region is unacceptable to Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tensions between Tehran and Baku had already worsened before the agreement, when Iran accused<\/a> Israel of using Azerbaijani airspace during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.<\/p>\n

Israel branded \u2018world\u2019s number one water thief\u2019<\/h3>\n

In response to a video<\/a> from Israeli<\/a> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran\u2019s water crisis, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called Israel \u201cthe world\u2019s number one water thief\u201d.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has released several videos addressing the Iranian people since the start of Israel\u2019s attacks on Iran<\/a>. In his latest message, he referred to the country\u2019s water and electricity shortages and urged Iranians to rise up against their government.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Israel counts high cost of Iran war as censorship masks full damage<\/div>\n

Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He also said that if Iran\u2019s government falls, Israel would be ready to share its expertise to solve the water crisis.<\/p>\n

Qalibaf responded on X, accusing<\/a> Israel of stealing water from neighbouring countries and comparing its policies to those of the Nazis in World War Two.<\/p>\n

Referring to Israeli strikes<\/a> during the 12-day war that hit a water treatment facility in northern Tehran, he wrote: \u201cThe 21st century Nazis struck the main water artery of northern Tehran in Tajrish Square with missiles in broad daylight to cut off water to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the occupied territories and in Gaza, these same criminals have been the world\u2019s number one water thieves for years, using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir crimes are always louder than their nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rice hoarding scandal highlights corruption<\/h3>\n

The discovery of 4,000 tonnes of hoarded rice, worth about $1m, has again fuelled debate in Iran over economic corruption and rent-seeking.<\/p>\n

The rice was uncovered at a time when prices for some basic goods had been rising in the days following the 12-day war with Israel, and local media had reported shortages of certain items.<\/p>\n

‘The Iranian economy is caught in a cycle of state control, rent-seeking, and institutional corruption’<\/p>\n

\u2013 Arman daily newspaper<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Arman daily wrote<\/a> that the hoarding of essential goods was not linked to the war with Israel, but was instead the result of deep-rooted corruption and Iran\u2019s closed economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iranian economy is caught in a cycle of state control, rent-seeking, and institutional corruption,\u201d the daily wrote.<\/p>\n

Economist Mehdi Pazuki told the newspaper: \u201cWe now have a rent-seeking class that is waging a full-scale economic war against Iran. This group controls the economy through income from a closed system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former nuclear negotiator rejects US talks<\/h3>\n

Saeed Jalili, the supreme leader\u2019s representative on the Supreme National Security Council, has criticised moderators who support resuming nuclear talks with the United States and other western countries, calling President Masoud Pezeshkian\u2019s policies ineffective.<\/p>\n

Jalili, a politician close to Iran\u2019s hardliners and a former senior negotiator with the West, pointed to the recent Iran-Israel war as a victory for Iran and said that restarting talks would be a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have defeated that arrogance that used all its power. You have reached a new stage, and then, only a few days later, some of you say let\u2019s go back to the same path [of negotiations],\u201d Jalili said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He also attacked moderate groups that claim that talks with the US would remove the threat of war and bring economic benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou said several trillion dollars of capital would come. But in this recent round of talks, in the middle of the negotiation, you see America and its offspring, with all the shamelessness it has, attacking you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘A graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries’ The agreement reached at the White House between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to secure peace in the South Caucasus has provoked fury among Iranian conservatives, with one saying the region will be turned into a \u201cgraveyard for Trump\u2019s mercenaries\u201d. Iranian politicians have hit out at the plan to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33451,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33361\/revisions\/33451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}