Iran has condemned a U.S. plan to control a transit route through Armenian territory, warning that it poses a threat to regional stability and undermines Tehran’s security interests. The corridor, which links Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhichevan, is to be managed by the U.S. under a 9,9-year lease agreement.
On Friday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump signed an agreement to establish the Zangezur transport corridor. As part of the deal, the U.S. will manage the corridor under Armenian sovereignty via a 99-year lease, subletting it to a consortium for construction and operations.
While Tehran has welcomed peace agreements between Yerevan and Baku, it “vehemently” opposes placing the corridor under U.S. control. Iranian officials argue that it would cut Iran off from Armenia and destabilize the South Caucasus by allowing a foreign military and commercial presence.
Iranian officials, including senior adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, view the project as a geopolitical scheme by the U.S. and Israel to weaken the Islamic Republic, sever its connection with the Caucasus, and impose a land blockade on both Iran and Russia. Velayati claimed it was part of a wider NATO-backed strategy, supported by pan-Turkic movements, to shift the Western focus from Ukraine to the Caucasus.
Moscow has expressed support for efforts to achieve stability in the South Caucasus and called for regional solutions. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that the best solutions are those developed by the countries in the region and their immediate neighbors, specifically Russia, Iran, and Turkey.