Pashinyan pushes early TRIPP launch despite Iranian concerns
Armenian prime minister says work on proposed route linking Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through Armenia could begin this fall
YEREVAN, Armenia (MNTV) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he wants work on a proposed U.S.-backed transit corridor linking Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave through southern Armenia to begin as soon as possible, despite continuing concerns raised by neighboring Iran, according to Freedom TV.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Pashinyan said Armenia remains committed to advancing the proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) and is prepared to address questions raised by Tehran.
“We are transparent in this matter and are ready to answer any questions,” Pashinyan said. “We just need to understand what exactly the concern is about, and it must be dispelled.”
Calling the project “global,” Pashinyan said both Armenia and the United States are interested in moving it forward and expressed hope that construction could begin this fall.
“The American side is also interested in it. It is necessary to ensure the procedures in a normal way so that the first works on the ground begin at least this fall,” he said.
Pashinyan’s comments came a day after Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Khalil Shirgholami said Yerevan must address what he described as Iran’s “very legitimate and logical” concerns over the planned corridor through Armenia’s Syunik province, which borders Iran.
According to Freedom TV, Shirgholami called for a mechanism to manage what he described as the potential risks associated with a U.S. presence linked to the project. He said recent military conflicts involving the United States, Israel and Iran had heightened Tehran’s security concerns.
Iran has expressed concern that the transit arrangement could affect its border with Armenia and increase the U.S. security presence in the region.
Pashinyan, who met Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on July 3, argued that the project would instead benefit Iran by opening a rail connection between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea, expanding trade and economic opportunities.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a framework agreement on the project’s implementation ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections.
Under the agreement, a U.S. government-backed entity would hold a 74% stake in a joint venture responsible for developing and operating rail, road, energy and other infrastructure along the corridor.
The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said Friday that engineers from the U.S. consulting firm AECOM had again visited Armenia and surveyed the proposed TRIPP route for rail and other infrastructure development, but provided no additional details.
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