Iran on Saturday threatened to obstruct a planned transport corridor in the South Caucasus that was unveiled a day earlier under a U.S.-brokered plan led by President Donald Trump, Iranian media reported, injecting fresh uncertainty into a deal touted as a strategic breakthrough.
A senior Azerbaijani diplomat said the initiative leaves Baku and Yerevan one step from a final peace agreement, and Armenia reiterated its support.
The proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) would cross southern Armenia, linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and onward to Turkey. The White House says Washington would hold exclusive development rights, aiming to boost energy and other exports.
It was unclear how Tehran could halt the project, but Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said recent military drills in northwest Iran signaled resolve to prevent “geopolitical changes” near its borders, warning the route would become a “graveyard” for those trying to force it through. Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry cautiously welcomed the agreement as a step toward regional peace while warning against foreign interference near Iranian frontiers.
Analysts noted Tehran’s bandwidth to physically block the corridor appears limited given U.S. pressure over its nuclear program and the aftermath of June’s 12-day war with Israel, though any challenge could raise security risks.
Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House on Friday for the signing of a joint declaration aimed at ending decades of conflict. Russia—long a security stakeholder in Armenia and the region—was not involved despite its border guards’ presence on the Armenia–Iran frontier. Moscow said it supports regional solutions driven by neighbors Russia, Iran and Turkey to avoid repeating the “sad experience” of Western mediation in the Middle East. Turkey, a NATO ally of Azerbaijan, welcomed the accord.
The dispute dates to the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region of Azerbaijan populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, broke away with Yerevan’s backing. Baku retook full control in 2023, prompting most of the area’s roughly 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UK and a former senior official in Aliyev’s office, called the agreement a “paradigm shift” that could transform regional prosperity and transport links. He said a final peace deal could come quickly once Armenia amends its constitution to drop references to territorial claims over Azerbaijan—an issue he described as the last remaining obstacle.
Pashinyan has called for a referendum to change the constitution, but no date has been set. Armenia is due to hold parliamentary elections in June 2026, with a new basic law expected before the vote. The Armenian leader wrote on X that the Washington summit opened the door to end the conflict and unlock strategic economic opportunities. Timelines for launching a transit rail route will depend on U.S.–Armenian coordination, Suleymanov said.
Key implementation details remain unsettled, said Joshua Kucera of International Crisis Group, including how customs and security would function and what reciprocal access Armenia would have across Azerbaijani territory—issues that could become stumbling blocks. Suleymanov downplayed suggestions that Russia would be disadvantaged, saying “anybody and everybody” could benefit if they choose.