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AZERBAIJAN ON IRAN: STRAIGHT TALK OR DOUBLETALK?
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
March 13 2012
NY
Fed up with all the media's alleged tension-mongering, Iranian
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mahammadbagir Bahrami instructed journalists
the other day to report only the good news about Iranian-Azerbaijani
ties, strained though they may be. "[C]over the news conducive to
the improvement of bilateral relations only," he said at a March 9
Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey meeting.
Granted, the get-together in the Azerbaijani exclave of
Nakhchivan, precariously wedged between the three neighbors and the
Azerbaijani-Turkish bete noire, Armenia, indeed marked a change of
tone between Baku and Tehran.
Coming after a story about Israeli intelligence allegedly using
Azerbaijan like one big pair of binoculars on Iran, and reports of
alleged Iranian terror plots against Israeli targets in Azerbaijan,
this sudden change of tone is prompting South Caucasus watchers to
try and peek through the closed doors of the Nakhchivan meeting.
Repeating an earlier line, Azerbaijan said that its territory can
never be used as a launch pad for a strike against Iran. "Our brothers
live there," explained senior Azerbaijani presidential administration
official Ali Hasanov, referring to the millions of ethnic Azeris in
Iran. Post-meeting, Baku also made clear that if someone needs to
worry about Azerbaijan's new Israeli guns - a purchase that enraged
Tehran - that should be Armenia (more details at The Bug Pit).
But, while a change of tone, the routine, in many ways, is old hat
for this neck of the woods. Like other small countries, countries
in the South Caucasus have long ago learned to try and pursue their
own interests (with varying degrees of success) while telling larger
foreign powers what they want to hear.
Azerbaijan may have spoken out in the past against supposed Iranian
dirty tricks on its territory, but the Israeli story, the most
sensational of its charges, was characterized more by a lack of
official commentary from Baku than by tell-all interviews with CNN
or the BBC. Quite plainly, Azerbaijan, which shares deep historical
and cultural ties with Iran, its southern neighbor, knows with whom
it has to deal, and behaves accordingly.
And, more than anything, Azerbaijani officials, politicians and
analysts alike say they know that an Israeli or other strike against
Iran could cause big trouble for Azerbaijan -- be it an influx of
ethnic Azeri refugees, concerns about the security of Caspian Sea
energy installations or what have you.
Sardar Jalaloglu, the chairman of one tiny Azerbaijani opposition
party, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, sees another concern. "If
Azerbaijan gets dragged into military action (in any form) , it may
become the nearest target for Iran, and that will cause domestic
dissatisfaction with the Azerbaijani government," Jalaloglu claimed,
in comments quoted by Russia's Iran.ru, a news site run by a former
chairman of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry's
Iranian Business Council.
Goodness knows, Baku wouldn't want to see that.
And so Hasanov alleged that no tensions whatsoever exist between
the two countries -- last month's Azerbaijani charges of lies,
"fabrication and libel" notwithstanding. And that any earlier angry
messages from Tehran were just an attempt to make sure that if the
big fight happens, Iran's neighbors will stay out of it.
If so, at least where Azerbaijan is concerned, looks like mission
accomplished.
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
March 13 2012
NY
Fed up with all the media's alleged tension-mongering, Iranian
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mahammadbagir Bahrami instructed journalists
the other day to report only the good news about Iranian-Azerbaijani
ties, strained though they may be. "[C]over the news conducive to
the improvement of bilateral relations only," he said at a March 9
Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey meeting.
Granted, the get-together in the Azerbaijani exclave of
Nakhchivan, precariously wedged between the three neighbors and the
Azerbaijani-Turkish bete noire, Armenia, indeed marked a change of
tone between Baku and Tehran.
Coming after a story about Israeli intelligence allegedly using
Azerbaijan like one big pair of binoculars on Iran, and reports of
alleged Iranian terror plots against Israeli targets in Azerbaijan,
this sudden change of tone is prompting South Caucasus watchers to
try and peek through the closed doors of the Nakhchivan meeting.
Repeating an earlier line, Azerbaijan said that its territory can
never be used as a launch pad for a strike against Iran. "Our brothers
live there," explained senior Azerbaijani presidential administration
official Ali Hasanov, referring to the millions of ethnic Azeris in
Iran. Post-meeting, Baku also made clear that if someone needs to
worry about Azerbaijan's new Israeli guns - a purchase that enraged
Tehran - that should be Armenia (more details at The Bug Pit).
But, while a change of tone, the routine, in many ways, is old hat
for this neck of the woods. Like other small countries, countries
in the South Caucasus have long ago learned to try and pursue their
own interests (with varying degrees of success) while telling larger
foreign powers what they want to hear.
Azerbaijan may have spoken out in the past against supposed Iranian
dirty tricks on its territory, but the Israeli story, the most
sensational of its charges, was characterized more by a lack of
official commentary from Baku than by tell-all interviews with CNN
or the BBC. Quite plainly, Azerbaijan, which shares deep historical
and cultural ties with Iran, its southern neighbor, knows with whom
it has to deal, and behaves accordingly.
And, more than anything, Azerbaijani officials, politicians and
analysts alike say they know that an Israeli or other strike against
Iran could cause big trouble for Azerbaijan -- be it an influx of
ethnic Azeri refugees, concerns about the security of Caspian Sea
energy installations or what have you.
Sardar Jalaloglu, the chairman of one tiny Azerbaijani opposition
party, the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, sees another concern. "If
Azerbaijan gets dragged into military action (in any form) , it may
become the nearest target for Iran, and that will cause domestic
dissatisfaction with the Azerbaijani government," Jalaloglu claimed,
in comments quoted by Russia's Iran.ru, a news site run by a former
chairman of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry's
Iranian Business Council.
Goodness knows, Baku wouldn't want to see that.
And so Hasanov alleged that no tensions whatsoever exist between
the two countries -- last month's Azerbaijani charges of lies,
"fabrication and libel" notwithstanding. And that any earlier angry
messages from Tehran were just an attempt to make sure that if the
big fight happens, Iran's neighbors will stay out of it.
If so, at least where Azerbaijan is concerned, looks like mission
accomplished.