The ongoing military conflict around Iran makes the implementation of the TRIPP transit corridor through the territory of Armenia, promoted by Washington, impossible and pointless. Former RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Ambassador to China Sergey Manasaryan expressed a similar opinion on NEWS.am’s “Strength Factor” program, warning Yerevan about the danger of getting involved in a new escalation.
According to an experienced diplomat, due to the war that has started, the issue of creating the “Trump Path” (TRIPP) is finally closed. Manasaryan emphasized that this confrontation can have only two ways out, and none of them leave a chance for the transit project. In the event of the defeat of Iran and the victory of the USA, Washington will no longer need to build a complex 50-kilometer road through the heavy relief of the Armenian Syunik, because the entire territory of Iran will be at their disposal. In the opposite scenario, if the United States cannot win and leave the conflict, Tehran, maintaining its positions, will simply not allow such a pro-American highway to be built near its northern borders.
Referring to the regional geopolitical consequences, the former deputy minister expressed his belief that the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is now forced to pay off debts in exchange for the help he received from Israel in solving the Artsakh issue. For this reason, Baku will do everything to open a new front against the Islamic Republic. According to Manasaryan, such a scenario contains a huge danger. military operations can most likely be transferred to the territory of Armenia, even if Yerevan tries in every way to maintain neutrality and avoid bloodshed.
Let’s remind that the TRIPP (Trump Path for International Peace and Prosperity) project is a logistics corridor initiated by the USA through the south of Armenia, which is meant to connect the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan autonomy. According to the Armenian-American framework agreements announced in 2026, the exclusive rights to build and manage the infrastructure for a period of 49 to 99 years should be transferred to a special consortium operating under the auspices of the United States.
The Armenian opposition strongly and uncompromisingly criticizes this plan. Political opponents declare that TRIPP is actually a disguised form of the extraterritorial “Zangezur Corridor”, the opening of which Baku has been striving for many years. Critics emphasize that handing over the strategic route to the foreign American administration deals a heavy blow to Armenia’s state sovereignty in the Syunik region, as well as geopolitically endangers the vitally important land border with Iran, threatening to isolate the country from its traditional southern neighbor for good.
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