Iran-Azerbaijan relations tangle of contradictions fraught with regional escalation – Vardan Voskanyan
Armenia should never consider its relations with Iran dependent on Iran-Azerbaijan relations.
The first reason is that Armenia cannot influence those relations. The second reason is that Azerbaijan-Iran relations do not promise stability. This is a tangle of contradictions, which may cause escalation at any moment, expert in Iranian studies Vardan Voskanyan told Tert.am as he commented on the latest developments in Iran-Azerbaijan relations.
“As a regional superpower, Iran has built up its relations with all of its neighbors, including Turkey and Azerbaijan. But Iran has a tangle of contradictions with the last two states – from cultural problems to serious political, and even regional, ones. The status of the Caspian is a controversial issue in Iran-Azerbaijan relations,” the expert said.
He also pointed out conflicting positions on the Syria conflict by Turkey and Iran.
During his visit to Tehran, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had meetings with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and Sayyed Ali Khamenei, which is a most rare occurrence. On the other hand, the Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani president are paying mutual visits for the fourth time, whereas the Iranian president has not so far visited Yerevan.
Mr Voskanyan points out that Iran had no way out because of strained relations with the West in those years.
So it had to maintain good relations even with its hostile neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. In Turkey’s case the reasons was its being the major channel to circumvent sanctions, whereas Azerbaijan would now and then infringe on Iran.
On many occasions Iran did not respond to Azerbaijan’s infringements as it did not want regional escalation. However, Iran will change its attitude after sanctions have been removed.
During the Azerbaijani president’s visit to Iran, the sides signed 11 documents on development of relations in different fields – customs, energy, transport, health and so on. The key agreement envisages formation of an Azerbaijani-Iranian railway network.
“The reports on Azerbaijani-Iranian cooperation are embellished. Specifically, the reports on the Azerbaijani-Iranian railway network are too early. In question is actually the construction of a bridge between Astara in Iran and Astara in Azerbaijan,” Mr Voskanyan said.
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