Iran warns against U.S. corridor in peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed the U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku, while warning against “any foreign intervention” in light of the development rights granted to Washington in a strategic corridor near Iran’s border.

In a statement, Tehran said it “welcomes the finalization of the peace agreement text by the two countries,” but also voiced “concern over the negative consequences of any foreign intervention, in any form, particularly near common borders.”

The deal, reached on Friday in Washington between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, ends decades of territorial disputes between the two neighbors. It includes the creation of a transit route through Armenia linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan — a long-standing demand by Baku.

The United States will hold development rights for the corridor, dubbed the “Trump Road for Peace and International Prosperity” (TRIPP), in this strategically located and energy-rich region.

Iran has long opposed such a corridor, fearing it would cut it off from the Caucasus and bring a foreign presence to its frontier. The Foreign Ministry warned that any outside involvement in this context could “disrupt security and lasting stability in the region.”

On Monday, Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned on X that any attempt by regional or external powers to impose this transit zone would meet with a “firm response” from Tehran.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have been characterized by deep mistrust in recent years. Disputes over borders, regional alliances, and security arrangements — particularly involving Israel’s close ties with Baku — have kept tensions high.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the contested Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in a lightning offensive in September 2023, triggering the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.

A senior U.S. official insisted that Armenia had not lost out in the negotiations, gaining “a huge strategic trade partner” in the United States. “The losers here are China, Russia, and Iran,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.