محمدحسین جوادی باروق

  The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, despite sharing significant cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and religious commonalities, have not always maintained stable and growing neighborly relations and policies. The divergence between the two countries has been influenced by underlying factors that have caused Iran and Azerbaijan's neighborly policies to face challenges and tensions. These challenges to neighborly relations stem from both sides. From the perspective of Azerbaijan, factors include: the issues surrounding the First and Second Karabakh Wars, anti-Iranian sentiments and ethnic nationalism, as well as the promotion of Pan-Turkism, the Zangezur issue and its resulting threats to Iran's strategic position, Azerbaijan's interactions with countries such as Turkey—whose domestic policies have increasingly influenced Azerbaijan's internal policies—the United States and the West, whose regional influence has grown due to their interest in Azerbaijan's resources, and the Zionist regime, which is a key challenge to Iran-Azerbaijan relations and a significant partner of Azerbaijan in military, political, and economic cooperation. These factors, along with other actions by Azerbaijan, have genuinely led to geopolitical constraints, threats, and limitations on Iran's neighborly and foreign policies. On the other hand, Azerbaijan perceives certain actions by Iran as detrimental to their bilateral relations, hindering convergence. These include: the Islamic Republic of Iran's interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs for ideological influence, the attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, and Iran's relations and convergence with Armenia, which Azerbaijan considers the most significant and impactful challenge to neighborly relations from Iran's side.