On August 8, a peace framework between Armenia and Azerbaijan brokered by US President Donald Trump introduced a transformative infrastructure project – the TRIPP Corridor (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity).
This agreement grants the United States 99-year exclusive infrastructure and transport rights through Armenia’s Syunik (Zangezur) province, effectively linking mainland Azerbaijan with its western exclave, Nakhchivan. While hailed in Washington as a geopolitical breakthrough, the initiative has stirred deep concerns in Tehran.
The corridor will include highways, railways, energy pipelines, and telecom infrastructure, enabling a direct Azerbaijan–Nakhchivan connection, bypassing Iran.
The US deal is widely seen as an effort to diminish the influence of Russia, Iran, and China in the South Caucasus. TRIPP positions Washington as a decisive arbiter in the region, sidelining Moscow’s traditional role and undermining Tehran’s transit leverage.
Iran had positioned itself as a key north–south transport hub. The TRIPP route bypasses the Islamic Republic entirely, threatening its logistics revenues and long-term economic role.
Iranian officials frame the corridor as part of a broader US strategy to encircle Iran militarily and economically, particularly as the route strengthens US, NATO, and allied presence in the Caucasus. The corridor reduces Tehran’s direct geographic link with Russia, eroding a critical axis of its regional strategy at a time of growing Moscow–Tehran cooperation.
A threat to South Caucasus stability?
Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, denounced TRIPP as a “threat to South Caucasus stability” and warned that Iran may resort to military options if its security is endangered. Tehran has traditionally sought to maintain sway in Armenia and Azerbaijan alike. TRIPP reduces Iran’s leverage by shifting the balance of power decisively toward US-backed projects.
With Turkey, as a NATO member, and Israel maintaining close security ties with Azerbaijan, Tehran fears the corridor will consolidate an anti-Iran axis in its northern frontier.
The TRIPP Corridor represents more than a transport link: it is a strategic realignment of the South Caucasus. For Iran, the project embodies economic exclusion, geopolitical marginalization, and security risks, which is why Tehran sees Trump’s corridor not as a path to peace, but as a threat to its regional influence and long-term security interests.
The writer is a Middle East scholar and commentator on the region.