The road to the White House: The USA and Armenia have distributed shares in the operator of the transport corridor project

Armenia and the United States have determined Washington's share in the operator of the "Trump route". TRIPP Development company will be engaged in the construction of transport infrastructure in the country. Americans will own 74% of the capital in it, while Armenians will own 26%. Experts fear that this project is directed against Russia, Iran and China. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

A half-century contract

"Armenia intends to support the establishment of the TRIPP Development Company and offer the United States a 74% stake in the TRIPP Development Company, while retaining 26%," Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a joint statement posted on the website of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Thus, TRIPP Development will be engaged in the development, construction, operation and maintenance of the transport infrastructure of the "Trump route".

The right to build within the framework of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) transport corridor project will initially be granted for 49 years. In the future, the partnership can be extended for another 50 years, and Armenia's share can be increased to 49% due to the additional issue of securities, the publication says.

Initially, the US president stated that the partnership between the two states on this project would last up to 99 years, but after Pashinyan stressed that there are two scenarios, one of which assumes the transfer of the "Trump route" to lease for a period of 49 years.

According to the plan, the "Trump Route" should connect the western part of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, which is separated from the republic by the territory of the Syunik region of Armenia. Last August, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, through the mediation of the US president, signed a number of documents that they called "historic."

The main ones were the initialed Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the two countries, as well as the trilateral Washington Declaration, which includes a clause on the Trump Route transportation project.

The document emphasizes that the TRIPP Development Company project will be developed "within the framework of certain transit routes on the territory of Armenia, in places that will be detailed in the future, while maintaining Armenia's full sovereignty over all territories of the project."

Private operators will collect documents and service the company, while migration control, security checks and customs clearance will remain with Armenia. Taxes and fees will also be transferred to the Armenian budget.

Tehran is concerned

The joint statement by Rubio and Mirzoyan assesses the expected benefits for Yerevan and Washington from the implementation of the "Trump Route." In particular, Armenia expects to increase its role as a regional transit and economic center, attract foreign investment in its infrastructure, create a sustainable income stream, strengthen its strategic partnership with the United States, and expand its export potential to new markets.

The White House is interested in opening up new markets for American investments, businesses, and goods, creating additional trade routes between the United States, Europe, and Asia, and ensuring supplies of raw materials, essential minerals, and rare earth metals to American markets.

In addition, the parties promise "employment opportunities for qualified Armenian citizens, the creation of new opportunities for international and Armenian companies, as well as technology transfer."

Meanwhile, this project greatly worries Tehran.

"Our position is clear. We have told our Armenian partners that we trust them, but we are dealing with America, which has taken action against Iran. We do not trust America, and we are concerned that America may use this project as part of its specific security policy," said Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Khalil Shirgolami.

According to him, Yerevan assured Tehran that Armenia would never become a source of threat to Iran.

"We have agreed that our discussions and communication on this issue will be ongoing, periodic, so that we understand the scope of this project. The only way is to constantly discuss with each other the details of this project and other issues," the diplomat said.

Last August, the adviser to the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Akbar Velayati, promised that the corridor would not become a "transit route owned by Trump," but a "cemetery for his mercenaries."

Against Russia and China

Kamran Hasanov, a senior lecturer at RUDN University, Doctor of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, believes that Iran is being surrounded from all sides.

— This "Trump Route," which effectively blocks Iran's free access to Armenia, the attacks on Hezbollah by Israel, the change of power in Syria, the 12-day war, and now the protests. I see this as part of a unified strategy to contain Russia, China and Iran," the political scientist explained in an interview with Izvestia.

According to him, it is important for the Armenian Prime Minister that this corridor does not fall into the hands of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia.

— And if these are Western countries, then he is ready to transfer at least 99% of the shares. The main thing is to remove contradictions in order to sign a peace deal with Azerbaijan, so that Armenia's security is provided by Western countries and that there is an additional argument for rapprochement with the West," the expert concluded.

Vladimir Sazhin, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an Iranian, believes that the "Trump Route" poses a serious danger to Iran.

— If the project is implemented, the positions of Ankara and the United States will strengthen in the region. In Tehran, they believe that everything can turn into the deployment of the US military," the analyst is sure.

Elena Panina, Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute for International Political and Economic Strategies, believes this project gives the United States great advantages.

"This is cutting off Russia and Iran from influence in the region, preparing for a possible reorientation of the entire Transcaucasia (and there Central Asia) towards the West, the beginning of a "soft occupation" of the entire regional infrastructure, the introduction of paramilitary units to "protect the interests of American companies," etc.," the political scientist believes.

In her opinion, the United States is achieving several goals.

"They are cutting off Russia from Transcaucasia by zeroing in on influence in Armenia, strengthening Azerbaijan, and introducing American infrastructure; blocking Iran, and also creating proxy infrastructures against China. The US actions in Transcaucasia objectively push Russia, China and Iran to work more closely to repel the threat," the expert concluded.