Baku-Tel Aviv growing ties and Iran's national security concerns
The recent establishment of Azerbaijan's embassy in Tel Aviv marked a new dark chapter of collaboration between Baku and the Zionist regime, which has maintained a malicious presence along Iran's northern borders in tandem with hostile anti-Iranian measures adopted by the Azerbaijani government.
Since 1992, ties between Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan have been warm. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and Azerbaijan's independence, the Zionists established an embassy in Baku. Despite having close military and economic ties with Israel during these years, Baku put off the formal opening of its embassy in the occupied Palestinian territories [Israel] out of fear of enraging Muslim nations and, in particular, Iran, a strong and powerful neighbour to its south.
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, speaking at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, cited mutual understanding, respect, and shared interests as the basis of the relationship between Baku and Tel Aviv, adding that Azerbaijan and Israel have maintained close military and security ties for many years. On the other hand, Eli Cohen saw the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Tel Aviv as a symbol of the strategic ties shared by the two regimes and a watershed moment in the development of bilateral ties.
Before delving into the ramifications of deeper ties between Baku and Tel Aviv, it is important to recall what Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a warning to the Azeri government: "The criminal Zionist regime has no goal other than the goal of approaching Muslim countries to accomplish its expansionist goals and promote discord and division among Muslims." "Our Muslim brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan are urged to be vigilant regarding the true intentions of their Zionist regime."
The expanding ties between Baku and Tel Aviv and the Zionist influence in Baku's political institutions have led to nothing but an increase in regional tensions. Azerbaijani territories continue to serve as a staging ground for covert Zionist operations against Iran. Nearly a decade ago, the Republic of Azerbaijan served as the terrorists' headquarters for plotting the assassination of Iranian nuclear experts. From there, the terrorists were able to set up espionage networks and receive orders from Israel.
In an attempt to sabotage Iran’s oil and gas exploration efforts back in the 2000s, the government in Baku deliberately sank Iran's only seismograph ship in the Caspian Sea. This was not the last in a string of repugnant acts committed by the Azeri government. In 2014, an Israeli drone en route to one of Iran's nuclear facilities was shot down. Iranian news outlets indicate that the drone took off from a base in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Furthermore, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence reported that an Azerbaijani national was identified as the mastermind behind the Shah Cheragh terrorist attack, which occurred in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in October 2022. Despite years of hostile Azeri actions, including aiding secessionist thugs in northwest Iran and even allocating handsome budgets for them, in recent weeks the Republic of Azerbaijan has made unfounded claims that it has discovered pro-Iran espionage networks.
Concerns have been raised about Azerbaijan's mischievous intentions following the disclosure that two airports will be built in newly occupied territory near the Iranian border. The fact that these are relatively unpopulated districts situated in close proximity to the Iranian border raises more red flags. According to the Zionist daily Haaretz, Azerbaijan's authorities gave the Mossad, the infamous Israeli spy agency, permission to install a sophisticated listening post to monitor Iran's military activities.
Despite these hostile measures, Tehran has so far exercised restraint, preferring diplomatic solutions to resolve crises over military ones. However, thanks to its windfall oil incomes and the backing of Turkey, the Zionist regime, and the United States, Baku has proven to be after yet another war in a region already sitting on a gunpowder keg. Baku's foreign policy is grounded on Ilham Aliyev's conviction that only conflict or war can ensure his political survival and guarantee his totalitarian regime some legitimacy. Aliyev and his regime stand to gain little from the relationship with Tel Aviv, but his Zionist allies are sure to be pleased.
