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Olde Tyme Religion
Azerbaijan Seeks to Enhance Military Cooperation With Iran
2018-03-07
[TheJamestownFoundation] Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami visited Azerbaijan, on February 21, to discuss the expansion of military cooperation (technical, medical, educational, joint defense industry), regional stability, as well as Caspian security (Mod.gov.az, Mdi.gov.az, February 21). Hatami expressed Iran’s interest in increasing Azerbaijan’s military power and in sharing military experience. He hoped to sign new agreements and finalize previous deals (1news.az, February 21; Irna.ir, February 21, 22; Mehrnews.com, February 22). Reportedly, the two parties agreed on the joint manufacture of new high-tech military equipment (Ifpnews.com, February 21).

The current intensification of Iranian-Azerbaijan military cooperation coincides with a reinforced military dialogue between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia. Shortly before Iranian Defense Minister Hatami’s visit to Baku, representatives of the Saudi defense ministry traveled to Azerbaijan to discuss military cooperation (technical, exercises, education and defense industry). This was a follow-up visit to Minister Hasanov’s official trip (April 2017) to Saudi Arabia, where he discussed similar topics with his hosts, including counter-terrorism issues (Mod.gov.az, April 5, 2017, February 5, 6, 8, 2018; Mdi.gov.az, February 8).

Azerbaijan’s warming military ties with Iran have raised eyebrows, particularly in light of the former’s close military cooperation with Israel. Yet, as a secular Muslim country, Azerbaijan, tries to play a constructive role across the Islamic World. The expert community usually portrayed Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel or the US as a possible anti-Iranian alliance. However, Farhad Mammadov, the director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Azerbaijan, argues that considering Azerbaijan’s complicated and unstable neighborhood, Baku “does not make its bilateral relations dependent on third countries,” which allows it “to cooperate with states that do not have relations with each other” (Valdaiclub.com, February 2017, p.12). By upgrading and diversifying its military ties and arms purchases with different partners, Azerbaijan demonstrates a multi-vector approach that seeks to outflank Armenia’s possible diplomatic activities there.
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