August 9, 2025 | Tehran / Baku / Yerevan / Washington
Iran has sharply condemned the planned transport corridor between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave via Armenia’s Syunik region — a route formally dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” and leased to the United States for 99 years under a new Washington–Yerevan agreement.
Speaking to the Iranian outlet Khabar Online, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, questioned the legitimacy of the project:
“Is the South Caucasus some no-man’s land for Trump to rent? This corridor will not become ‘Trump’s private transit road’ — it will be a cemetery for his mercenaries.”
Velayati asserted that Iran does not need Russia’s help to “defend the security of the South Caucasus,” though he claimed Moscow is “strategically opposed” to the corridor. At the same time, he welcomed the broader peace agreements recently reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The remarks come after the Washington summit between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and U.S. President Donald Trump, where the sides agreed to reopen regional transport links and sign a comprehensive peace deal. The U.S.–Armenia arrangement places the corridor under Armenian jurisdiction, with a U.S.-backed consortium responsible for construction and management. According to CNN and Reuters sources, the lease grants the consortium 99 years of operational control, while Armenia retains sovereignty.
Moscow, responding to the Washington agreements, reminded all parties that the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 — which ended the Second Karabakh War — remains in effect. That deal envisaged reopening transport connections under the supervision of Russia’s Border Guard Service.
The Zangezur Corridor — known in the U.S. by the acronym TRIPP — is a strategic link connecting mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, bordering Turkey, Azerbaijan’s key ally. Analysts, including The Economist, note that the route could form part of a major East–West trade artery and significantly reduce Russia’s leverage in the South Caucasus.
