ON RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND AZERBAIJAN
Abstract
To a great extent, stability and security in the Caucasus, in the Caspian Sea zone, and in Russia’s southern “soft underbelly” depend on the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. The geostrategic importance of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and the Azerbaijanian Republic (AR) cannot be overestimated Indeed, Iran belongs to the Caucasian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian regions; it is situated on the Caspian shores and has access to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. In one way or another, the state is exposed to all the most painful problems of this vast region. None of the sores—ethnic, religious, military, or economic—or any of the problems related to refugees, drug trafficking, terrorism, and separatism can be successfully resolved without Tehran’s involvement. This is true even of the seemingly domestic problems plaguing individual parts of the region. It should be added that Iran has its ultimate value as a source of natural hydrocarbons and as an oil and gas transit territory. The country, with a population of 70 million, has one of the world’s largest armies (about 800,000). This is a decisive factor in West Asian regional politics, irrespective of either the domestic or foreign policy situation.
In the Western Asian context, Azerbaijan is a key strategic factor because of its oil reserves and its bioresources. It is one of the region’s most developed industrial countries, which successfully masters high technologies; on top of this it is an important international transportation center.
This explains why Iranian-Azerbaijanian relations have always been of great importance in international relations, and why the numerous complications in these relationships call for a detailed and pro-found analysis. Here I shall outline the most important of them.
Downloads
References
See: N.M. Mamedova, Ekonomicheskie sviazi Irana i stran SNG. Sbornik nauchnyh statey “Iran i SNG,” Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS and Institute of Israel and Middle East Studies, Moscow, 2003.
See: A.V. Malashenko, Islam i islamovedenie v SNG v 90-e gody, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS, Moscow, 1998.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2004 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
