From: jameskerlindsay
Despite sharing significant ethnic and religious connections, the relationship between Iran and Azerbaijan has largely remained cool over the past three decades [00:00:59]. While there is a common belief that countries with shared ethnic, linguistic, or religious ties will naturally gravitate towards each other, Iran and Azerbaijan serve as an interesting example where this isn’t always the case [00:00:28], [00:00:48].
Shared Religious Heritage
Both Iran and Azerbaijan are two of only three Shia Muslim majority states in the world, with Bahrain being the third [00:00:54], [00:02:47], [00:02:51]. This shared religious identity is a deep-seated connection between the two nations.
Despite this religious affinity, after decades of communist rule following its independence, Azerbaijan showed little interest in fostering close ties with its southern neighbour based on shared Shia heritage [00:05:18], [00:05:28]. Instead, factors like language, economics, and strategic orientation ultimately took precedence over religious ties in shaping Azerbaijan’s foreign policy [00:05:40].
Ethnic Connections
While the Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people, they possess strong historical, cultural, and religious links to predominantly Farsi-speaking Iran [00:02:37], [00:02:42].
A significant ethnic connection lies in the demographics of both countries:
- Over 90% of Azerbaijan’s population is ethnically Azeri [00:03:03].
- In Iran, Azeris constitute between 15% to 20% of the population, making them the second-largest group after Persians [00:03:07], [00:03:10].
- Ethnic Azeris hold senior positions in Iran, including the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who is ethnic Azeri on his father’s side [00:03:15], [00:03:19], [00:03:22].
The 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan war further complicated these ethnic ties, as Azerbaijan’s victory fueled pro-Azerbaijani sentiment among ethnic Azeris in Iran [00:07:44], [00:07:50]. Many felt that Tehran should have supported Azerbaijan in the conflict, which made Tehran nervous [00:07:56], [00:08:02].
Historical Context
The region that now constitutes Azerbaijan was historically part of Iran (then generally known as Persia) before being ceded to Moscow’s control after the Russo-Persian Wars in the first quarter of the 19th century [00:03:29], [00:03:35], [00:03:45], [00:03:54]. These territories eventually formed Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan [00:03:54], [00:03:59].
When Azerbaijan declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, it led to initial tensions with Iran, which used the name Azerbaijan for its own northern provinces and perceived the new state’s name as suggesting a claim to these lands [00:04:13], [00:04:19], [00:04:24].
Despite deep historical and cultural ties, and being two of only three predominantly Shia Muslim countries, the political, economic, and strategic relationship between Iran and Azerbaijan has not been as close as some might have expected since Azerbaijan gained independence in 1991 [00:10:40], [00:10:51], [00:10:57]. This complexity underlies the often tense relationship, as seen in the sharp rise in tensions in late 2021 [00:01:04], [00:11:03].