Trump to The Hill: TRIPP gives USA “a big advantage” when it comes to dealing with Tehran down the road
Тhe South Caucasus is Russia’s backyard. It’s Iran’s doorstep. And it’s one of the most strategic regions the United States is digging into, The Hill writes.
It is already one year since the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia being at the White House to initial a peace agreement.
According to the author, to make this peace deal happen, a cornerstone of the agreement is the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Columnist Robert Sherman in an exclusive phone call with US President Trump late last week asked him about this project and the United States’ growing involvement in the region.
US president told in the short term it’s “not gonna change” how he handles the war with Iran, though he did acknowledge it gives him “a big advantage” when it comes to dealing with Tehran down the road. Put simply, the leverage is real — but tucked away in the back pocket for now.
Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, Narek Mkrtchyan, told that Armenia is “totally fine” with the U.S. being in the region and having such a large stake long-term, insisting that jurisdiction — customs, taxation, security, policing — stays with Armenian institutions regardless of who owns the equity.
According the author, the West hasn’t dared, or at the very least bothered, to trek into this region before since it’s in such proximity to Russia.
Sherman asked the ambassador directly whether Armenia is moving away from Russia. He pushed back on that framing — repeatedly. What’s happening, he told that it is “diversification” of procurement, of supply chains, of economic partnerships, of security partnerships. Not abandonment of Moscow, in his telling, but a hedging away from dependence on any single power.
The most sensitive question the author put to the ambassador was about Iran. Washington has been making a public push in recent weeks to pressure allies and partners to isolate Tehran economically as part of “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Armenia shares an actual border with Iran, and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual trade with it. So has the U.S. asked Armenia to cut that off?
“Everything is discussable and everything can be taken into consideration,” the ambassador said. Nothing ruled in, nothing ruled out.
The ambassador went on to say that Armenia has been directly reassuring Tehran about TRIPP: “We communicated with our neighbors, saying that this is not against you — this is only about communication, this is only about infrastructure, trade, commerce. There is nothing, literally nothing, related to possible military.”
The author noticed that Armenia and Azerbaijan still have no diplomatic relations and no signed final peace treaty. However, the cogs are starting to churn forward between the two nations.
