evidence: In September 2023, Azerbaijan seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, yet governed by ethnic Armenians since 1994. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenian residents fled the region after the lightning military campaign. Armenians and Western officials increasingly fear that Baku's offensive is not over; Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated that opening the Zangezur Corridor is a top objective for his state. The Azeri government considers the Zangezur corridor to be of strategic economic significance. Azerbaijan and Turkey have been advocating for the creation of the corridor since 2020. If realized, the initiative would establish a connection from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan and link Turkey to China and Central Asia by traversing Armenia's Syunik Province. For Armenia, such an arrangement would constitute occupation of its territory. Azerbaijan's desire to establish the land route and Armenia's wish to protect its territorial integrity and assert its sovereignty would trigger a greater regional conflict. [...] Despite a statement from a senior Azerbaijani official expressing a preference for a land route through Iran instead of Armenia, Azerbaijan's actions raise doubts about its true intentions. The display of military strength through joint drills, persistent rhetoric claiming Southern Armenia as Azeri territory, and President Aliyev's withdrawal from a meeting with Armenia in Brussels contradict the stated commitment to abandon the Zangezur Corridor objective.