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Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal a strategic disaster for Iran

Asia Times
Nov 23 2020
The Russia-brokered pact is yet another blow to Iran’s self-image as a regional hegemon
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will soon seek more details on the Armenia-Azerbaijan deal from Moscow and Baku. Photo: AFP

The terms of the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict agreed between Armenia and Azerbaijan represent a grave threat to Iran’s long-term strategic interests. The effects of this are likely to influence the Iranian people’s perception of their regime, as well as alter Iran’s policy toward Azerbaijan and Syria.

Azerbaijan now is in control over the entirety of its border with Iran along the Aras River. While this may be a cause for celebration in Baku, it is viewed with alarm in Tehran. This is because an extension of Azerbaijan’s border with Iran will give Israel access to more territory from which to keep tabs on Tehran.

Despite denials from Baku, it is no secret that Israel and Azerbaijan enjoy substantive cooperation in intelligence, energy and military matters.

Azerbaijan is one of the largest buyers of Israeli weaponry. Its use of Israeli “kamikaze” drones in the Nagorno-Karabakh war played an important role in tilting the battlefield to its advantage – although the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones have been credited as a true game changer in the conflict.

Besides this, Israel and Azerbaijan maintain deep intelligence ties. And were Israel to launch air strikes against Iranian nuclear installations, Azerbaijan would likely play a vital role either as a refueling stop or a launchpad.

The other consequence of the war is the creation of a transit corridor across Armenian territory that will connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. To be manned by Russian troops, this corridor likely will run parallel to Armenia’s border with Iran.

This has already raised concern in Tehran as it could in effect cut off Iranian access to Armenia and onward to Europe via Georgia. For a country already reeling from international sanctions, it is of great importance for Iran that it is able to gain access to friendly neighbors.

Such is the panic that has set in that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was compelled to spell out explicitly that Iran’s access to Armenia will not be threatened by the transport corridor.

It is noteworthy Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will soon travel to Moscow and Baku to discuss the issue in more detail. However, what is more important to note is the capital he will not be visiting – Ankara, another important winner of the conflict.

Turkey will maintain troops in Azerbaijan and now gets direct access to the Caspian Sea via the proposed Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan corridor. It can now also directly project influence to Central Asia, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s most cherished ambitions.

Tehran will have also taken note of Russia’s reluctance to offer full-throated support to its ally Armenia. The takeaway from Russia’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is that it is happy to sacrifice an ally if it becomes too bothersome.

Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, came to power via the sort of “color revolutions” detested by Vladimir Putin. He further annoyed the Russian president by jailing Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s ex-president and erstwhile Putin ally.

In this conflict, then, Moscow stuck to the letter rather than the spirit of its alliance with Yerevan, stating that its security commitments only extended to Armenia’s territory. Moscow has allowed Azerbaijan to reclaim all its lost territories, while allowing Armenia to retain rump areas around Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital.

Moscow will maintain influence in the region by providing peacekeeping troops in Karabakh and along the proposed Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan corridor.

Two soldiers attach a flag on a Russian peacekeeping force military vehicle as they move on the road toward Martuni, Armenia, on November 13, 2020. Photo: Handout / Russian Defense Ministry / AFP

Moscow also will be happy to see the back of Prime Minister Pashinyan, whose political career now seems over. It also appears to be guided by its broader goal of ensuring that Turkey stays out of the Western orbit.

Astute policymakers in Tehran will likely draw the right conclusions from this, particularly in terms of what this may augur for Iran’s ally in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad. Having seen the eagerness with which Russia and Turkey were willing to hash out a deal between themselves, Tehran is likely to push the Assad regime in the direction of concluding the Syrian civil war.

The main effect of how the conflict has played out on domestic politics within Iran is likely to be psychological. This is yet another blow to Iran’s self-image as a regional hegemon. Indeed, that Tehran was a bystander to the conflict and was unable to have a say in shaping the outcome will revive memories of the two Russo-Persian Wars of the 19th century, which resulted in Persia having to cede its control over the entire South Caucasus.

It reveals to the Iranian people that Iran no longer has the economic might, technological sophistication or alluring political model to influence a region that was under Persian influence for hundreds of years – one is tempted to say thousands of years, since the time of the Achaemenid empire.

In all, this represents yet another slight to the legitimacy of the regime that has ruled Iran since 1979.

This article was provided by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.