Iran has warned it will prevent the creation of a planned transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia, a key element of a US-brokered peace plan between Baku and Yerevan.
The threat casts uncertainty over a deal hailed by Washington as a strategic breakthrough.
The proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) would give Azerbaijan direct access to Nakhchivan and onward to Turkey, with the US granted exclusive development rights. Washington says the project will boost energy exports and regional trade.
However, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned the corridor would not become “a passage owned by Trump” but “a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries.” He pointed to recent Iranian military drills near the region as proof of Tehran’s readiness to block any “geopolitical changes” it opposes.
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Iran’s foreign ministry welcomed the broader peace agreement but cautioned against foreign intervention near its borders, warning it could undermine regional security.
Azerbaijan and Armenia move closer to peace
The TRIPP corridor is part of a broader US-brokered agreement signed at the White House on Friday between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Both leaders called it a step toward ending decades of hostility, with Baku insisting that Armenia must amend its constitution to remove claims over Nagorno-Karabakh before a final deal is signed.
“This is a paradigm shift,” said Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UK, Elin Suleymanov, predicting major economic and transport benefits for the wider region.
Regional reactions mixed
While Turkey welcomed the deal, Russia—historically Armenia’s security partner—urged solutions developed by regional powers, warning against repeating the “sad experience” of Western-led Middle East diplomacy. Moscow still has border guards stationed between Armenia and Iran and retains strong economic ties with Yerevan.
Analysts, however, caution that the peace plan leaves critical questions unanswered, including customs procedures, security arrangements, and reciprocal access for Armenia to Azerbaijani territory.
Pashinyan has called for a constitutional referendum, but no date has been set, and Armenia’s next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2026. Without constitutional changes, Suleymanov says, a final deal cannot be signed.
International Crisis Group analyst Joshua Kucera noted that Trump may not have secured the swift diplomatic win he hoped for, given the unresolved issues and Iran’s growing opposition.
