Overview

• On August 8, Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan signed a US-mediated declaration establishing a transit corridor through southern Armenia to connect Azerbaijan’s mainland with its Nakhchivan exclave under a 99-year US development lease.
• Iran’s supreme leader adviser Ali Akbar Velayati condemned the corridor as “an impossible notion” and warned it would become “a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries” if Tehran did not intervene.
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed guarded support for the agreement but cautioned that non-regional involvement must reinforce peace efforts rather than create new divisions.
• Turkey praised the corridor’s promise to boost energy exports and trade flows across the South Caucasus, framing it as an economic opportunity for the region.
• Analysts warn that unresolved questions over customs procedures, security arrangements and Armenia’s reciprocal access rights could pose serious obstacles to the corridor’s implementation.