Planned transport routes linking Armenia and Azerbaijan must not change the region’s geopolitics or cut Iran's access to other corridors, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a phone call with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Tuesday.
On Friday, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a deal at the White House to settle a longtime dispute over the corridor, a strip of land which became a flash point in the two rivals’ decades-long conflict.
The deal gives Washington leasing rights to develop the transit corridor, which would connect Azerbaijan with its exclave, Nakhchivan. It will be renamed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
“In any decision or action, respect for national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of countries must be fully observed,” Araghchi added, according to a readout of the call published by Iranian media.
Earlier in the day, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani dismissed what she called exaggerated claims about the Zangezur corridor, saying it covers only a small area near Iran’s border.
"It is not as if our entire northern border has been lost,” Mohajerani said, but added that that Iran demands stability, territorial integrity, and existing sovereignty to be preserved.
A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, however, vowed to block the establishment of the transit corridor saying it would endanger regional security and alter the region's geopolitics.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” Ali Akbar Velayati said.
Velayati stressed that Iran has always opposed the Zangezur corridor, saying it would alter borders, fragment Armenia, and restrict Iran’s regional access.
