TRIPP is the ‘Zangezur corridor’ directed also against Iran

On January 14, 2026, an event took place in Washington that was officially presented as a “historic breakthrough” in ensuring regional peace and prosperity. The signing of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) Implementation Framework by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked the culmination of processes launched back in August 2025. Yet behind the diplomatic wording from Armenia’s Foreign Ministry lies a project that could permanently redraw the map of the region and deprive Armenia of the remnants of its statehood.

TRIPP cannot be analyzed in isolation from the global geopolitical agenda of Donald Trump’s administration. Today, the United States has openly set course for the final dismantling of the Iranian regime, employing the tactic of “Maximum Pressure 2.0.” The situation in Iran is extremely tense: amid unprecedented sanctions against any country doing business with Tehran, the nation is shaken by organized protests. Trump, in his public statements, openly incites demonstrators to seize administrative buildings, effectively pushing the region to the brink of a major war. In response, Tehran has declared that any form of US institutional presence in the region, as well as Israel, will be considered legitimate military targets. And at precisely this moment, when the atmosphere in the region is electrified to the limit, Nikol Pashinyan signs a document that personally brings Americans to the Armenian-Iranian border.

If TRIPP’s geopolitical layer is directed against Iran, its regional essence is a complete capitulation to Baku’s demands within the Armenian-Azerbaijani agenda. According to the official Foreign Ministry document, the project is to ensure “unimpeded multimodal transit connectivity” between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. The use of the term “unimpeded connectivity” in an official document with the US confirms that Pashinyan is fulfilling Aliyev’s demands, simply doing so through a “mediator.” Aliyev did not want Armenians at customs checkpoints, and the joint declaration wrapped this desire in overseas terminology: “front office” and “back office.” Behind this terminology lies a humiliating scheme: Armenian officials at customs checkpoints will be relegated to the “back office,” effectively becoming invisible to Azerbaijanis, who receive that very unimpeded passage. The front office, staffed by private operators under US control, will handle communication, excluding direct interaction between Armenians and Azerbaijanis on Armenia’s sovereign territory.

The structure of the TRIPP Development Company appears as an act of economic expropriation. Armenia transfers 74% of the project’s shares to the US for 49 years, with the document explicitly stipulating the possibility of merging shares or even gifting them. This means the US could take all 100%, then hand over the former Armenian 26% to “friends” of Tom Barrack from Turkey’s MIT intelligence service. It is unlikely that Pashinyan’s government would strongly resist such a scenario. Moreover, Armenia provides both territory and, if necessary, cash investments within the project. In other words, infrastructure is to be built largely at Armenia’s expense, but 74% of the revenues go to the US, while Azerbaijan uses the route for its own interests. Despite the document being saturated with the word “sovereignty,” the above points testify to the exact opposite process.

Think about it…