Political relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are deteriorating amid signs of closer security and diplomatic cooperation between Baku and Tel Aviv. Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s comments to reporters in Jerusalem on March 29 about his “agreement” with his Azerbaijani counterpart to form
As Russia and Western powers seek to compete in the South Caucasus, many analysts neglect the role of Iran in the region. After the 2020 war and the signing of the November 9 trilateral statement, Iran realized that its geo-economic and geopolitical interests
Background of Religious Persecution in Azerbaijan Despite being a Shia Muslim majority country, the ruling regime of Ilham Aliyev regularly and aggressively enforces secularism on the population of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis are forbidden to study in foreign Shia seminaries (hawza). Women are discouraged and
A survey was recently conducted by the Tehran International Studies and Research Institute (TISRI) to study international security priorities and Iran’s foreign policy. The survey was conducted among 384 academic scholars in different Iranian universities (Tehran, Allameh Tabataba’i, Tabriz, Guilan, Shiraz and Razi of Kermanshah)
On September 13, a new aggravation manifested itself between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The parties, traditionally accusing each other of provocations, reduced the situation to the use of weapons in the border areas. Official Baku accused the Armenian military of shelling the positions of
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meets with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of his working visit to New York, September 26, 2019 During my academic visit to New Delhi in February 2020, I met with Indian politicians and scholars and discussed
During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran on July 19, the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned against blocking the Armenian-Iranian border, stating, “If there is an effort to block the border between Iran and
On August 5, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a four-hour meeting in Russia to discuss bilateral ties and regional issues. The Sochi summit comes after Ankara scored a diplomatic victory by helping broker a grain deal between Turkey, Ukraine
The Beginning of the Modern “Great Game” in the South Caucasus The “Great Game” was a political and diplomatic confrontation that existed for most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century between the British Empire and the Russian Empire
In recent months, Iran has engaged in active foreign policy in the South Caucasus to push its geo-economic interests forward. Meanwhile, Western-led economic sanctions have pushed Russia to realize the significance of the North-South trade route. Iran defused and refreshed its relations with