IRAN AND THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS
Abstract
The death of the Soviet Union and disbandment of the Warsaw Treaty Organization put an end to the bipolar world. In the new geopolitical conditions the United States remained the only superpower. Under the pressure of the changed circumstances, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) had to readjust its foreign policy conceptions and foreign policy practice. The foreign policy dictum— Neither East nor West—Only Islam—lost its urgency. Traditionally Iran was balancing between two rivals—Russia and Britain in the 19th century and the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in the mid-20th century. The new world order deprived the foreign policy tradition of any meaning.1
The new reality affected another basic foreign policy principle—export of the Islamic revolution to other countries. Today, Iran is satisfied with promoting Islamic culture throughout the world.
In the new conditions, Iran is more concerned with its own security and territorial integrity achieved through maintaining good-neighborly relations with the South Caucasian countries.2
The geopolitical importance of the Southern Caucasus for Iran can hardly be overestimated: it is a major communication center where the Christian and Muslim civilizations meet at the strategic crossroads that tie together Europe and Asia, a fuel and energy center on the Caspian shores.
In ancient times and during the Middle Ages, bits and pieces of what today is the Caucasus were part of Iran. Turkey and Iran spent the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries fighting for domination in the Caucasus. It was the Russian Empire that squeezed Iran from the region: the Gulistan (1813)3 and Turkmanchai (1828)4 treaties between Russia and Persia turned out to be of historic importance. They divided the Azeri nation between Russia (which acquired Northern Azerbaijan) and Persia (Iran), which acquired Southern Azerbaijan. The Azeris who ruled Iran (the Turkic dynasties remained in power from the 11th century to 1925) and the Persians consider Iran to be their country.
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References
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According to Art III of the Treaty, the shah recognized the transfer “to the Russian Empire of the Karabakh and Ganja khanates, which were united into the Elisabethpol province; the Sheki, Shirvan, Derbent, Kuba, Baku, and Talysh khanates with the lands of the latter that now belong to the Russian Empire; at the same time, the whole of Daghestan,Georgia with the Shuragel province, Imeretia, Guria, Mingrelia, and Abkhazia, as well as all the possessions and lands between the newly drawn border and the Caucasian line with the lands and peoples neighboring on the line and the Cas-pian (Giulistanskiy mirny dogovor (Mirny Traktat, zakliuchenny mezhdu Rossiey i Persiey. 12 (24) oktiabria 1813 g.), avail-able at [http://www.hronos.km.ru/dokum/ruper1813.html]).
Under Art III of the Treaty “the Persian shah ceded to the Russian Empire to its full ownership Erivan khanate on this and on the other side of the Arax and the Nakhichevan Khanate.” Art XII mentioned the names of Husain Khan, former ruler of Erivan, his brother Hasan Khan and Kerim Khan, former ruler of Nakhchyvan (see: “Turkmanchayskiy mirny dog-ovor mezhdu Rossiey i Iranom,” in: Sbornik arkhivnykh dokumentov, ed. by A.A. Sazonov, G.N. Gerasimova, O.A. Glush-kova, S.N. Kisterev, Russkaia kniga, Moscow, 1992, pp. 314-324).
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The Republic of Azerbaijan believes that the Caspian Sea should be divided into sectors in which the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the coastal states shall apply. The sea should be divided into sectors on the basis of the median line principle, the existing practice and with due respect to the sovereign rights of the coastal Caspian states (see: On Le-gal Status of Caspian Sea, Caspian Sea Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, available at [http://
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A.M. Koknar, op. cit.
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