Iran tells Armenia Trump-backed land corridor may be part of US ploy
Iran stepped up warnings to Armenia on Monday over a planned U.S.-backed corridor linking Azerbaijan to an exclave near the Iranian border, part of a recent peace deal between Yerevan and Baku.
In a phone call with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian "warned against possible actions by the United States, which could pursue hegemonic goals in the Caucasus region under the guise of economic investments and peace guarantees", according to a statement from Tehran.
The land corridor dubbed the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" is part of a deal signed last week in Washington between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Under the deal, the United States will have the development rights of the proposed route, which would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave, passing near the Iranian border.
Iran has long opposed the planned transit route, also known as the Zangezur corridor, fearing it would cut the country off from Armenia and the rest of the Caucasus, and bring potentially hostile foreign forces to near its borders.
Pezeshkian said Iran "welcomes any agreement that promotes the strengthening of peace" among its neighbors, but emphasized the need to prevent the "interference of any military or security force" in implementing the corridor project, according to the statement from his office.
Armenia's deputy foreign minister is due in Tehran on Tuesday for talks on the issue, Tehran has said.
On Saturday, a senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader said Tehran will not allow the creation of the planned corridor, warning that the area would become "a graveyard for Trump's mercenaries."
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