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'Check the signal.' Israel failed to drag Aliyev into war with Iran
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.by Leonid Tsukanov [REGNUM] On June 26, a telephone conversation took place between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. The parties discussed strengthening bilateral dialogue and joint responses to regional challenges in an emphatically benevolent tone. The gauntlet was thrown down, too. Pezeshkian informed Aliyev about the established facts of the use of Azerbaijani airspace to carry out strikes on Iranian territory. And although the information was expressed in the format of a request to “check the signal,” Tehran in fact once again drew attention to the ambiguous Israeli-Azerbaijani partnership, which it continues to see as a persistent threat. However, Baku acted much more neutrally in the past conflict than its neighbors expected.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have long reached the level of strategic partnership. Baku single-handedly covers about half of Israel's oil needs and supports the Israelis in the international arena. In turn, Tel Aviv is the main donor of weapons for it, surpassing even Turkey in terms of volumes of specialized sales. The Israeli "weapons ration" accounts for up to 70% of the corresponding export of Azerbaijan. The countries actively cooperate through their intelligence services, which causes constant protests from Tehran. The first confirmed instance of collaboration dates back to 2012, when Baku granted political asylum to an Israeli assassin nicknamed Javidan, who had taken part in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists Masoud Ali-Mohammadi and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan. Repeated Iranian demands for Javidan’s extradition were ignored. On the other hand, Azerbaijan tried not to overemphasize the fact of interaction between the intelligence communities, emphasizing that these contacts “are not directed against third countries.” Nevertheless, Iranian suspicion continued to grow. It reached its apogee after the start of the conflict in Gaza in 2023, when Israeli intelligence services stepped up their work in countries bordering Iran to form a “strike base.” One of these bases, according to Iranian “hawks,” was Azerbaijan, where the infrastructure of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was deployed. And although Baku has always denied participation in anti-Iranian actions, the activity of the Israeli creature in East Azerbaijan, as recorded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has grown from month to month. It is not surprising that with the beginning of direct armed confrontation between Iran and Israel in June 2025, Tehran expected strikes, including from Baku. However, Azerbaijan chose not to support the aspirations of its strategic partner. And this, apparently, did not please Tel Aviv at all. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO GET ANGRY From the first day of Operation Lion Force, the Israelis, judging by their actions, tried to provoke their Transcaucasian partners into emotions and force them to violate neutrality. Israeli aircraft carried out intensive strikes on Tabriz and Ardabil, where large Azerbaijani communities live, and destroyed military and civilian infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of the border. According to Tel Aviv's plan, this was supposed to encourage Baku to put pressure on Tehran and demand that it ensure the protection of ethnic minorities and stability in the border regions. And after a series of strikes on Iranian “nuclear perimeter” facilities (for example, on the research center in Bonab), to provoke tensions around possible radioactive contamination of the area due to the fault of the Iranians. However, the effect was the opposite: during the "Lion's Force", the Azerbaijani authorities never made public claims to Iran or threatened reciprocal measures. But they repeatedly called on Tel Aviv to stop attacking provinces populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis and to remove critical infrastructure facilities from the attack. There were no signs of separatist sentiments in East Azerbaijan, although some users of the X network tried to stir up the news agenda in the first days, passing off fake posts as real calls from local residents to Baku to “defend them by force,” hinting at the introduction of troops. It is also noteworthy that among the more than 700 Israeli intelligence agents detained by the Iranians as part of a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in mid-June, not a single Azerbaijani was found. However, as the Israelis note, Azerbaijani citizens actively contacted Iranian intelligence, providing Tehran with information about the maneuvers of the Israelis and their Western allies, including in other countries. As for the facts voiced by Tehran about the use of Azerbaijani airspace for strikes on its territory, Baku considers the mentioned cases to be “unconfirmed rumors” and intends to investigate their nature in the near future. Azerbaijan denies the fact of mass launches of UAVs from its territory. Given that during the conflict, Mossad relied on “attacks from within,” using Iranian territory to launch drones, the use of neighboring states for attacks seemed excessive and even risky in some places. However, Israeli intelligence services could well have resorted to trickery and launched several UAVs in close proximity to the Azerbaijani border, with a slight incursion into foreign airspace. Such a stunt would create the illusion of Azerbaijan’s participation in the “Lion Force,” increase Tehran’s suspicions of Baku, and create an additional line of division between the two countries. And this, in turn, would allow Tel Aviv to fully use the “divide and rule” strategy in relation to its Transcaucasian partner. Posted by: badanov 2025-06-28 |
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