AZE.az asked Dr. Brenda Shaffer, one of the most reputable experts on our region and former Research Director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, to comment on the unprecedented attack by Iranians and Armenians on Azerbaijan and on the factors that bring together those two countries in working against Western interests in the region.
On March 4, Ambassador Elin Suleymanov joined Dr. Brenda Shaffer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Haifa, and Mr.
Jonathan Harris, AIPAC Deputy Director for Policy and Government Affairs, at a panel during AIPAC’s Policy Conference in Washington. Speaking of Azerbaijan’s partnership with Israel and the centuries old friendship between the Azerbaijani and Jewish people, Mr.
Suleymanov reminded the audience that the traditions of tolerance, openness and inclusiveness stand as fundamental pillars of citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan.Iran’s state-run radio published a critical report about Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the United States, Elin Suleymanov, speaking at a panel during the AIPAC 2013 Annual Conference on March 4, 2013.Official Tehran’s anti-Semitic diatribe attempted to drive wedge between the Azerbaijani and Jewish people and between Azerbaijan and Israel. Clearly, the Iranian leadership is concerned over the growing and successful partnership Azerbaijan has developed with the United States and Israel.
Azerbaijan, which is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world, currently provides up to 40% of Israel’s energy demand and the Ambassador stated more cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan would further deepen relations between the two countries.In an obviously concerted effort, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian joined the Iranian attack on Azerbaijan by harshly criticizing Azerbaijani Ambassador speaking at the AIPAC annual event and for expressing support for Israel and the Jewish community.
Dr. Brenda Shaffer has provided a detailed analysis that we are sharing with our readers below:
“Following the appearance on a panel at the AIPAC conference in Washington DC of the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States Elin Suleymanov, there were a large number of Iranian and Armenian media reports and condemnations.
The large number of responses is indeed intriguing since Armenia was not the focus of the panel. Perhaps the fact that Iranian-Armenian cooperation was mentioned by some of the speakers spurred this response from Yerevan and Tehran.
Even though Iran and Armenia share a number of strategic interests and thus the alliance between them is natural, they are concerned about being open about it. For Armenia it is costly to admit its cooperation with Iran, since this could complicate Yerevan’s relationship with Washington.
For Iran, its strategic cooperation with Armenia is troubling to admit, because this means acknowledging also that their foreign policy is pragmatic based and not based on Islamic solidarity. In fact, in all the region of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Iran’s policy preferences have not been based on ideology or Islamic solidarity.
Tehran has preferred Moscow over Chechens, Armenia over Azerbaijan and refrained from supporting Islamist movements in Tajikistan when Moscow told them to hold back.As pointed out at the panel, from the beginning of independence, Iran attempted to undermine Azerbaijan’s security and supported Armenia in its war with Azerbaijan. As a multi-ethnic country in which a third of its population is ethnic Azerbaijani, Tehran feared that a strong and prosperous Azerbaijan could spur its own ethnic Azerbaijanis to demand language and cultural rights and lead to destabilization in ethnic Azerbaijani populated areas of Iran.
Thus, Tehran has consistently worked to undermine Azerbaijan’s stability, including during the war period.Following the panel, a number of Iranian officials tried to refute the fact that Iran has supported Armenia in the war over Nagorno—Karabakh. However, if you look at what the Iranian and Armenia press has said about their relations over the years, by their own declarations, their cooperation is clear.
For instance, already in December 1991, days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tehran did not greet the Soviet Union’s breakup as a great opportunity for “export of Islam,” but rather grasped that its once stable northern border had been replaced by a conflict-ridden zone and expressed concern that the independence of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan could influence ethnic minorities in Iran. During the week of the Soviet Union’s breakup, the official newspaper Tehran Times wrote, “The first ground for concern from the point of view in Tehran is the lack of political stability in the newly independent republics.
The unstable conditions in those republics could be serious causes of insecurity along the lengthy borders (over 2000 kilometres) Iran shares with those countries. Already foreign hands can be felt at work in those republics, especially in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan republics, with the ultimate objective of brewing discord among the Iranian Azeris and Turkmen by instigating ethnic and nationalistic sentiments.”After Armenia had just overrun Shusha and Lachin and created tens of thousands of new Azerbaijani refugees, Iranian Deputy Minister Mahmud Va’ezi’s response on Iranian state television was amazing: “The only thing that can solve the problem is political negotiation and a peaceful solution through any path that both sides accept.” The city of Shusha fell to Armenian forces while Iran was hosting a summit meeting in Tehran of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.Iran established diplomatic relations with Armenia in February 1992 and signed a number of economic agreements at the height one of the battles between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In April 1992, at one of the most crucial points in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Iran agreed to supply fuel to Armenia and improve transportation links. These supplies to Armenia arrived at a crucial time in the war, and without Tehran’s cooperation in this period when most supply routes had been cut by the war, Armenia’s war effort probably could not have been sustained and escalated.
Pointing out Tehran’s role in helping Armenia, former Armenian Prime Minister and Vice President Gagik Arutyunyan praised Iran in May 1992 at a ceremony commemorating the opening of a bridge over the Araz River linking Armenia and Iran and stated that the bridge to Iran will contribute to stabilizing the economic situation in the republic. Despite the war raging, high-level and cordial exchanges with Armenian officials were conducted regularly, and, in July 1993, direct flights between Tehran and Yerevan were inaugurated.Tehran’s lack of action on behalf of its so-called Muslim and Shiite brothers in Azerbaijan in this period was so pronounced that hard-liners in Iran openly voiced criticism of the official policy in the Iranian newspaper, Jomhuri-ye Islami, stating that Iran’s policy toward the conflict and its cooperation with Armenia was not a proper reflection of Iran’s “religious and ideological responsibilities.” Some of the best indications of Iran’s conciliatory position toward Armenia came from Yerevan and the Karabagh Armenians as reported also in Armenian media sources — their repeated praise of Iran’s role in the negotiation process, the expression of their preference for Tehran over many other foreign representatives, and their call for the deployment of Iranian observers at the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia and in Nakhchevan.
Armenia’s President Levon Ter-Petrossian, stressing the importance of Iran’s mediatory mission in settling the problem of Karabagh, stated: ‘The Iranians have proved their complete impartiality in this issue, respecting the rights of both sides and striving for a just solution, and therefore the sides trust Iran.” In October 2002 according to Iran’s official IRNA press service, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated, “Iran is the guarantor of stability in the Karabagh region.” Iranian and Armenian media sources have also mentioned the strategic cooperation between the sides. According to the official Iranian press service, during his March 2002 visit to Yerevan, Admiral ‘Ali Shamkhani, Iranian Minister of Defense, signed a letter of understanding with his then Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisyan, on “bilateral military cooperation.” According to Arminfo News Agency, the agreement includes arms sales.
According to the Armenia media source, during his visit to Armenia, the Iranian Defense Minister stated that Iran does not maintain military cooperation with Azerbaijan and that “this was only a wish” of the Azerbaijani authorities.”
______________________
References: Interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Va’ezi, IRIB Television, May 21, 1992. Interfax, May 7, 1992.
Jomhuri-ye Islami, March 2, 1992, p. 2.
TASS, 28 February 1992; Moscow Programma Radio Odin, May 31, 1992 ; Yerevan Armenia’s Radio First Program, May 20, 1992. IRNA, October 2, 2002.
IRNA, March 6, 2002. Arminfo (Yerevan), March 5, 2002..