The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were expected to initial a peace document at the White House on Friday, signaling their commitment to a final agreement that would end decades of enmity and boost US, Turkish and Israeli influence in the South Caucasus at Russia and Iran’s expense.

President Donald Trump will host the landmark event, where President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia are expected to ink a series of economic agreements with the United States to "pursue economic opportunities together, so we can fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region," Trump said on Truth Social in an Aug. 7 post. 

One of the key elements of the accord will be the establishment of a transport corridor running from Azerbaijan via Armenia and on to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave bordering Turkey. Azerbaijan has long insisted that the corridor be part of any peace deal with Armenia and that it be granted unfettered access through it without submitting to Armenian border controls. Armenia has resisted the demand, saying it would breach its territorial sovereignty. 

Cutting through Armenia’s strategic Syunik region for 32 kilometers, or about 20 miles, the land bridge would run parallel to the Iranian border. Tehran is fiercely opposed to the arrangement as it would effectively erase its border with Armenia and thus cut off its land connection to neighboring Georgia and the Black Sea. As Iran sees things, it will also give Azerbaijan’s top ally, Israel, broader latitude to spy on and destabilize its clerical regime.