Pashinyan and Aliyev hope their congratulations to Khamenei won’t raise concerns at White House, Eurasianet says

Intent on staying on Tehran’s good side, Armenia and Azerbaijan have both saluted the elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei to be Iran’s Supreme Leader. The congratulatory notes sent by Yerevan and Baku highlight the delicate geopolitical balance that both are trying to maintain amid the ongoing US-Israeli air campaign to cause the Islamic Republic’s collapse, Eurasianet writes.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan share a frontier with Iran. Meanwhile, both are heavily invested in developing a US-backed trade corridor, known as TRIPP or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.

Under the circumstances, both Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev clearly hope that their proffered congratulations to Khamenei do not cause consternation in the White House.

The publication states that so far, Pashinyan and Aliyev appear to have threaded a diplomatic needle, given that there has been no adverse reaction from Washington yet concerning their actions. At the same time, Trump told Fox News that he was generally “not happy” with Khamenei’s selection.