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ArmInfo. The Washington meeting served primarily as a signal to Iran that Armenia is not an ally of Tehran and that the border could be closed at any moment. This was the reaction of political scientist and commentator
Benjamin Matevosyan on his Telegram channel to the joint statement
by the Armenian and US governments regarding the framework for
implementing the Trump Roadmap to International Peace and Prosperity
(TRIPP), published by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
The analyst first presented the main agreements reached between
Armenia and the US within the TRIPP framework. He pointed out under
the document, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan handed over 74% of the
TRIPP project to the US for 49 years, noting that it allows for the
merging of project shares or even gifting them. This means, as the
expert explained, the US could take 100% of the project and then gift
the Armenian 26% to “friends” of US Ambassador to Turkey Tom
Barrack. “And it’s unlikely that Pashinyan’s government would
strongly resist this,” Matevosyan believes.
He then noted that Armenia is providing both the territory and, if
necessary, the investment for the project. This means that much of
the construction should be financed by Armenia, but 74% of the
revenue goes to the US, and Azerbaijan reaps the benefits.
“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, for his part, did not want to
see Armenians at border customs checkpoints, and the joint
declaration ‘wrapped’ this desire in ‘overseas terminology’: a front
office and a back office, where Armenians will not communicate with
Azerbaijanis who receive unimpeded passage. It’s worth noting that
‘unimpeded passage’ is precisely what Baku insisted on in the context
of the so-called ‘Zangezur Corridor.’ The use of this term in the
document with the US confirms that Pashinyan is fulfilling Aliyev’s
demands, simply through a ‘mediator.’ Aliyev has once got what he
wanted from Pashinyan,” the political scientist continued.
He also noted that the Armenian government essentially preferred this
document over the statement of November 9, 2020, after having
surrendered Artsakh in Prague in 2022. “The TRIPP project in its
current form is a logical continuation of the 2022 Prague agreements.
Having surrendered Artsakh under the pretext of ‘saving Armenia’s
sovereignty,’ Pashinyan is now surrendering Armenia itself, packaging
his capitulation in the bright wrapping of ‘Western investment,'”
Matevosyan claims.
He then drew attention to the timing of the signing in the context
of regional events. Matevosyan expressed conviction that all of this
fits within the logic of Armenia’s integration into an anti-Iran
coalition. In this regard, he recalled that the United States is
currently taking an open course toward dismantling the Iranian
regime: imposing unprecedented sanctions on countries doing business
with Tehran, while Trump calls on protesters to seize administrative
buildings effectively puts the region on the brink of a major war,
openly raising the prospect of military strikes against Iran. “In
response, Tehran is directly declaring that any form of institutional
US presence in the region, military bases, and Israel will become
legitimate military targets. And it is at this very moment, when the
air in the region is charged to the breaking point, that Pashinyan
signs a document that personally brings the Americans to the
Armenian-Iranian border.
“The current government operates according to the logic of those very
same ‘sleeper cells’ who, having waited for the hour of reckoning,
are burning mosques in Iran today. Meanwhile the Armenian authorities
are stabbing the region’s stability and centuries-old good-neighborly
relations in the back,” the expert noted.
In this regard, the political scientist mentioned that while the
United States is an ocean away, Iran remains Armenia’s eternal
neighbor. He noted that ignoring this fundamental truth is not simply
a mistake or incompetence. “In seven and a half years, we could have
learned to listen to the pulse of history.What we are seeing today is
deliberate, targeted sabotage, the price of which is the security and
very existence of Armenia,” Matevosyan emphasized.
In conclusion, the political scientist noted that, with this document
of January 14, Armenia essentially stated its willingness to limit
its sovereignty to 26 percent and expressed its willingness to give
Aliyev what he wants: the absence of Armenians at the border and
customs. Regarding the wording, the political scientist clarified
that it is a frequently used diplomatic trick, necessary to avoid
ratification in parliament “if necessary,” while still allowing
political processes to be launched, as well as to outline Armenia’s
geopolitical lines and priorities.
“The lack of legal obligations in this case can only serve as a ploy,
allowing Pashinyan’s government to avoid accusations of directly
violating the Constitution, while in practice, Armenia becomes part
of someone else’s geopolitical scenario, directed against its
regional neighbor and its own national interests. The Washington
meeting was needed primarily as a signal to Iran that Armenia is not
an ally of Tehran and that the border could be closed at any moment,”
Matevosyan concluded.
Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry published a document outlining
the procedures for implementing the Trump Route for International
Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project. The document was presented
following the Mirzoyan-Rubio meeting in Washington. It is noted that
the document is a new step toward fulfilling the commitments made at
the White House on August 8, 2025, to promote lasting peace in the
South Caucasus. It is emphasized that it outlines the framework for
implementing TRIPP.
