Old and New Aspirations
Iran’s Policy in the Southern Caucasus
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Iran is an important regional power in the Southern Caucasus. Its cooperation with Georgia is limited to economic matters. Armenian-Iranian relations are determined by the two countries’ relations with Azerbaijan. Iran and Azerbaijan have been able to improve their economic relations. But political relations are marked by conflicts. Given the 20 million Azeris in Iran, Tehran fears Azerbaijani nationalism and irredentism. Iran is fine-tuning a range of instruments designed to undermine the integrity and security of Azerbaijan from the inside out. Baku wants to strengthen its position by turning to Israel as well as to the United States.
(Osteuropa 7-10/2015, pp. 443–457)