“We have serious concerns on this issue and expect Armenia to give us confidence that there will be no presence of any foreign forces on the Armenian-Iranian border and nobody could create a danger for Iran along that border and adjacent areas,” Khalil Shirgholami told journalists.
“Armenian officials at the highest level have repeatedly affirmed that no such precedent will ever occur,” he said. “It is precisely this mutual trust that we view as the guarantee that this project will never deviate from its course or pose any threat to Iran. So we should wait for further developments and see how the process unfolds.”
The remarks contrasted with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments to the press made during his October 16 trip to Yerevan. Araghchi said the Iranians “trust our Armenian brothers” and believe “they are doing nothing that would compromise Iran’s security.”
The issue was high on the agenda of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan’s October 5 talks in Tehran with Araghchi as well as Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Mirzoyan said afterwards that Tehran is “satisfied” with Yerevan’s assurances on the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Iran - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, Tehran, October 5, 2026.
Earlier this week, the Armenian parliament ratified a U.S.-Armenian framework agreement on practical modalities of the TRIPP. The agreement calls for the creation of a joint venture that will build and manage for at least 49 years a railway, a road, energy supply lines and other infrastructure connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave and Turkey. The U.S. government will own 74 percent of the TRIPP Development Company (TDC).
Mirzoyan said last week that a private TRIPP operator to be hired by the company may well have its own security service. But he insisted that this would not amount to U.S. military or security presence along Armenia’s border with Iran. Also, Mirzoyan and other Armenian leaders have repeatedly denied opposition claims that the transit arrangement could call into question Armenian control of the strategic border.
Shirgholami stressed the importance of “mechanisms” for the implementation of the TRIPP project which have yet to be worked out.
“We hope that the Armenian government will have a correct, vigilant and cautious approach in the preparation and development of these mechanisms and that these mechanisms will be worked out in the best interests of Armenia,” the envoy said. “Depending on any situation on the ground, we will make decisions and express our views on them.”
In his words, Tehran is also seeking a special “format for discussions” with the Armenian side which would “enable us to resolve any challenges very quickly should they emerge.”