Yerevan/Baku/Washington (Agencies) — July 24, 2025: A Spanish news website this week published a leaked memorandum claiming that Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States have secretly agreed to a 100-year lease of a strategic transport and defense corridor—dubbed the “Trump Bridge Transportation Corridor and Defence Gateway”—running through Armenia’s Syunik province along the border with Iran. According to the unverified report, a private American firm would operate the 42-kilometre route, deploy some 1,000 security personnel, and receive 40 percent of any revenue generated, while Armenia would be allocated just 30 percent.
The story, which first appeared on Periodista Digital, alleges that the corridor is intended not only to link mainland Azerbaijan with its exclave in Nakhchivan but also to provide the United States with a forward staging area for potential operations on Iran’s northern frontier. It names no U.S. government office or company involved and offers no supporting documents beyond anonymous sources the site claims are part of the Armenian diaspora in France.
Late Wednesday, Armenia’s Information and Public Relations Department issued a scathing rebuttal, calling the report “manipulative propaganda” and warning that Periodista Digital has a history of disseminating unsubstantiated material for hybrid-warfare purposes. The statement underscored Yerevan’s official Crossroads of Peace initiative—its public plan to unblock regional transport links—and urged media outlets to rely only on confirmed, government-sanctioned sources.
Baku has so far declined to comment on the allegations. Azerbaijan’s government spokesperson referred inquiries to the State Customs Committee, which has yet to issue a statement on any such corridor or lease agreement. Likewise, the U.S. State Department said it had “no information to share” on the matter and would not confirm or deny reports of secret infrastructure deals.
Analysts caution that, were the allegations true, the corridor would represent an unprecedented expansion of U.S. strategic influence in the South Caucasus and a major shift in regional security dynamics. Given the proximity to Iran’s Ardabil and East Azerbaijan provinces, the route could offer the U.S. military rapid overland access to Iran’s northern border. However, experts note that any such deployment would require Armenian parliamentary approval and ratification under the country’s constitution.
In Tbilisi, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry described the report as “disquieting” but reiterated its commitment to regional connectivity projects under the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the North-South Transport Corridor, none of which involve U.S. military basing. The European Union’s special representative to the South Caucasus also urged all parties to clarify the situation “to prevent unnecessary tensions.”
At present there is no corroborating evidence—satellite imagery, official statements or leaked contracts—to substantiate the existence of the so-called Trump Bridge corridor. Until more concrete information emerges, Yerevan’s denial and the lack of official acknowledgment in Washington or Baku leave the precise status of the alleged agreement open to question.