evidence: The rugged landscape of the South Caucasus had made Nakhchivan a natural corridor linking Yerevan to Baku and Teheran. But politics in its most detestable form transformed it into an exclave – a territory under the sovereignty of a nation from which it is separated by a country or a body of water. It is cut off from Azerbaijan to the north and east by a mountain range belonging to the Armenian enemy, known as Zangezur. On its southwestern flank, the Aras River forms the border with Iran, a neighbor with which Baku maintains a checkered relationship. The only land route linking Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan ran through Iran, making a detour of several hundred kilometers to avoid skirting the Armenian border. Teheran cut off this route at the time of the 2020 war.