Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:37:15.983Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the South Caucasus Republics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Elaheh Koolaee  and
Mohammad Hossein Hafezian
Elaheh Koolaee
Affiliation:
University of Tehran
Mohammad Hossein Hafezian
Affiliation:
Azad University, Karaj Branch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Deep geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus have considerably influenced the relationships of Iran and the three republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Geographical location and strategic significance have made this region one of the most important in the world. Because of its historical affinities and socio-cultural links with the region's peoples, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expanded political-economic cooperation with them. The active presence of regional and trans-regional actors has directly affected this relation. This article mainly seeks to examine Iran's relations with the South Caucasus republics, considering the opportunities created since their independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , June 2010 , pp. 391 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 The International Society for Iranian Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

She was a member of the Sixth Parliament (Reformist Parliament) and an active member of the Women's Faction within it. She is a specialist in Central Eurasian affairs and is the director of the Central Eurasia Program at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at University of Tehran.

References

1 S. P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Affairs (Summer 1993), http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/48950/samuel-p-huntington/the-clash-of-civilizations (accessed 13 November 2009).

2 Shahnazaryan, David, “The South Caucasus: Problems of Actability and Regional Security,” Demokratizatsiya, 14, no. 3 (2006): 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 “Russia Rejects Plans to Expand Chevron-Led Caspian Sea Pipeline,” Global Research, no. 14 (2006), http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3846 (accessed 13 November 2009).

4 Energy Information Administration, Caspian Sea Region, Natural Gas Export Options, July 2002, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/caspgase.html (19 January 2010).

5 Michael Klare, “As U.S. Energy Sources Decline, Russian and Caspian Sea Oil Won't Solve Supply Problem,” Foreign Policy in Focus, no. 18 (2005), http://www.fpif.org (15 November 2009).

6 Pavel Felgenhauer, “Kremlin's Risky PR Game,” The Moscow Time, 7 March 2002.

7 Koolaee, Elaheh, Siasat va Hokoomat dar Federasion Rusiyeh [Politics and Government in the Russian Federation] (Tehran, 2006), 167.Google Scholar

8 Lounev, Sergey, “Central Asia and the South Caucasus Geopolitical Value for Russia,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, 3, no. 39 (2006): 14–24.Google Scholar

9 “Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan: Energy Interests and State Awards Change Geopolitical Accents in the Region,” Armenianow.com, July 2009, http://www.armenianow.com/features/10142/armenia_russia_azerbaijan_energy (accessed 19 January 2010).

10 Shahin Abbasov, “Is Baku Offering A Natural Gas Carrot to Moscow for Help with Karabakh?,” Cesran Saram, 19 January 2010, http://cesran.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328%3Ais-baku-offering-a-natural-gas-carrot-to-moscow-for-help-with-karabakh-&catid=57%3Amakale-ve-raporlar&Itemid=63&lang=tr (accessed 19 January 2010).

11 Kandiyoti, Rafael, “What Price Access to the Open Seas? The Geopolitics of Oil and Gas Transmission from the Trans-Caspian Republics,” Central Asian Survey, 27, no. 1 (March 2008): 75–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 Amineh, Mehdi Parvizi, “Caspian Energy: A Viable Alternative to the Persian Gulf,” EurAsia Bulletin, 8, no. 3–4 (March–April 2004)Google Scholar, http://www.eias.org/publications/bulletin/2004/marapr04/ebmarapr04p6.pdf (accessed 20 November 2009).

13 Williamson, Roger, South Caucasus: Perceptions and Challenges of the Region (Wilton Park, 2006), 11.Google Scholar

14 Bernard Gelb, “Caspian Sea Oil and Gas: Production and Prospects”, no. 4, CRS Report for Congress (2005): 4–5.

15 Bruce Nelan, “Caspian Black Gold,” Time International, 29 June 1998, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980629/cover_story.caspian_blac7.html (accessed 27 March 2010).

16 Koolaee, Elaheh, “Geopolitics of Energy Transit through Caucasus,” Journal of Central Eurasia Studies, 1, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2008): 56–59.Google Scholar

17 Country Analysis Report, “Caspian Sea,” Energy Information Association (2007), http://www.eia.doe.org (accessed 15 November 2009).

18 Noam Chomsky,“Ossetia–Georgia–Russia–USA,” http://www.counterpunch.org (accessed 25 November 2009).

19 “Azerbaijan Casts Doubts on Armenia–Turkey Border Opening,” Hurreit, Daily News (Istanbul), 1 September 2009, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=azerbaijan-casts-doubts-on-armenia-turkey-border-opening-2009-09-01 (26 November 2009).

20 Armenian National Congress, “Armenia–Turkey Relations, Karabakh Conflict is a Single Package,” Today AZ, 24 December 2009, http://www.today.az/news/armenia/58525.html (accessed 12 January 2010).

21 “Armenia Rejects Iran Mediation in Karabakh Dispute,” Press TV, 26 December 2009, http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114717&sectionid=351020101 ( 12 January 2010).

22 Laitin, D. D. and Suny, R. G., “Thinking a Way out of Karabakh,” Journal of Middle East Policy, 31 (1999): 12.Google Scholar

23 Herzig, Edmund, “Armenia: History,” in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia (London, 2008), 73.Google Scholar

24 Anankian, Mardiros H., “Armenian Mythology,” in The Mythology of all Races, vol. V11 (New York, 1925)Google Scholar, http://rbedrosian.com/ananik.html

25 Maziar Behrooz, “Iran's Response to the Rise of Nationalism in Caucasus (1988–1993),” The ECO of Iran, no. 72 (1994): 20–27.

26 Arif Uonosov, “Azerbaijan mejdu Amerikai i iranam,” no. 3 (May–June 2006), http://www.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/20/5789.html 2007 (accessed 12 November 2009).

27 Ipek, Pinar, “Azerbaijan's Foreign Policy and the Challenges for Energy Security,” The Middle East Journal, 63, no. 2 (2009): 227–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

28 Jim Nichol, “Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia: Security Issues and Implications for the US,” CRS Report for Congress, 31 January 2008, http://italy.usembassy.gov/pdf/other/RL30679.pdf (29 January 2010).

29 Nowruz, 19 May 2002: 6.

30 Annie Jafalian, “US–Armenia Relations: The Challenge of Cooperation,” Caucaz (Euronews), 18 January 2005, http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=110 (accessed 28 January 2010).

31 “Armenia Foreign Minister: Iran Atomic Plans Peaceful,” Press TV, 27 February 2008, http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=44852&sectionid=351020104 (accessed 26 November 2009).

32 Safa Haeri, “Islamic Iran, Orthodox Armenia, Strange Bedfellows,” Iran Press Service, 9 September 2004, http://wwwdamavandsafa.blogspot.com (accessed 1 November 2009).

33 ArmInfo, “Iran–Armenia Gas Pipeline to Allow the Republic to Take Part in NABUCCO,” 4 March 2010, http://www.armenia-news/Iran-Armenia-Gas-Pipeline-To-Allow-The-Republic-To-Take-Part-In-Nabucco (accessed 27 March 2010).

34 Ibid.

35 Viktoria Panfilova, “Armenia Povernolas k Irany,” 2006, http://www.ng.ru/economics/2006-01-18/3_armenia.html (accessed 12 November 2009).

36 “Because Armenia Is on the Way from Iran to Kazakhstan by Land,” Ettelaat, 25 April 2003: 19.

37 “Railway to Connect Central Asia in 2011,” RAIL PAGE, 28 December 2008, http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1367972.htm (accessed 12 January 2010).

38 “Iran, Armenia Gas Pipeline,” Energy Data Warehouse, 20 March 2007, http://energydata.blogsome.com/2007/03/20/iran-armenia-gas-pipeline (accessed 25 November 2009).

39 “Armenia Honoring Gas Deal with Iran,” rferl, 15 November 2009, http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Honoring_Gas_Deal_With_Iran/1878868.html (13 January 2010).

40 Ettelaat, 11 September 2005: 4.

41 http://www.ettelaat.com:8080/etbarchives/1997/01/28/P10.pdf (accessed 25 November 2009).

42 Lason Athanasiadis, “Foreign Plots and Cockroaches in Iran,” Asia Times, 8 June 2006, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HF08Ak02.html (accessed 12 November 2009).

43 Rajaee, Bahram, “The Politics of Refugee Policy in Post-Revolutionary Iran,” Middle East Journal, 54, no. 1 (Winter 2000): 44–63Google Scholar

44 Bahar Baser, “Third Party Mediation in Nagorno Karabakh: Part of the Cure or of Disease,” The Journal of Turkish Weekly, 6 February 2009, http://www.turkishweekly.net/article/320/third-party-mediation-in-nagorno-karabakh-part-of-the-cure-or-part-of-the-disease.html (accessed 20 November 2009).

45 Ettelaat, 31 January 1995: 2.

46 Sasan Fayyazmanesh, “The Politics of the US Economic Sanctions Against Iran,” Review of Radical Political Economics, http://llrrp.sagepub.com (accessed 30 October 2009).

47 Uonosov, “Azerbaijan mejdu Amerikai i iranam,” 3.

48 Entekhab, 31 May 2003: 3; “Baku Will Not Allow US to Attack Iran from Its Soil: Azeri Official.” Iason Athanasaidis, “Foreign Plots and Cockroaches in Iran,” 8 June 2006, http://www.atimes.com/middle_East/HF0BAK02.html (accessed 27 March 2010).

49 Entekhab, 18 August 2003: 2.

50 http://www.eng.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/16/1044.html (accessed 30 October 2009).

51 Aftab Yazd, 27 April 2006: 11.

52 “Azerbaijan – between America and Iran,” Russia in Global Affairs, 12 July 2006, http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/16/1044.html (accessed 2 November 2009).

53 Ilham Aliyev, “OSCE Minsk Group Support Settlement of Nagorno Karabakh Problem on the Principles Proposed by Azerbaijan,” Today AZ, 29 October 2009, http://www.today.AZ/ (accessed 13 November 2009).

54 Kayhan, 15 April 1996: 3.

55 Mahan Abedin, “Iran at Sea Over Azerbaijan,” Asia Times online, 28 September 2004, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FI28Ak01.html (accessed 19 November 2009).

56 Luke Allnutt, “Iran/Azerbaijan: Faith, Oil, and Power Threaten Historic Brotherhood,” Eurasia Net, 30 December 2007, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp123007.shtml (accessed 2 November 2009).

57 Allnutt, “Iran/Azerbaijan.”

58 Uonosov, “Azerbaijan mejdu Amerikai i iranam,” 3.

59 Kayhan, 28 August 2001: 4; Abbas Maleki, “Search in the Legal System and the Share of the Caspian,” http://www.Caspianstudies.com (accessed 2 November 2009).

60 “Azerbaijan Protests over Iranian Ship Interception,” BBC News, 24 July 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_145000/1454526 (accessed 13 November 2009).

61 Islamic Republic, 14 August 2001: 3.

62 Ettelaat, 23 November 2002: 2.

63 Shargh, 24 April 2006: 5.

64 Etemad, 3 January 2007: 7.

65 C. W. Bandy, “The Caucasus Region and Caspian Basin: Change Competition and Challenge,” Conflict Studies Research, no. S36 (1998): 15.

66 Ettelaat, 13 November 1997: 16.

67 IRNA, 21 May 2003; Ipek, “Azerbaijan's Foreign Policy and the Challenges for Energy Security,” 11; Sergei Blagov, “Kazakhstan Pushes for Trilateral Caspian Deal,” Asia Times, 10 October 2002, http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/lawreviews/meta-elements/journals/bciclr/27_1/03_FTN.htm (accessed 25 November 2009).

68 Ettelaat, 12 October 1995: 4; “Shah Deniz Signed,” 4, no. 3Azerbaijan International (Autumn 1996): 35, http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/43_folder/43_articles/43_shah.html (accessed 13 November 2009).

69 “Shah Deniz Signed, Third Major Contact in Caspian,” Azerbaijan International, 4, no. 3 (Autumn 1996): 35Google Scholar, http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/43_folder/43_articles/43_shah.html (accessed 25 November 2009).

70 “EIA Country Analysis: Azerbaijan,” Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, 7, no. 14 (July 2002)Google Scholar, http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntc22868.htm (accessed 25 November 2009).

71 “Azerbaijan Starts Pumping Iranian Gas to Georgia,” Caucaz, 30 January 2006, http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/depeches.php?idp=653 (accessed 25 November 2009); Marianna Gregorian, “Georgia Show Interest in Armenia–Iran Gas Pipeline,” Eurasia Net, 12 April 2007, http://www.gab-ibn.com/IMG/pdf/Ge1-_Georgia_Shows_Interest_In_Iran_Armenia_Gas_Pipeline.pdf (accessed 2 November 2009).

72 Ettelaat, 26 May 1995: 4.

73 Ettelaat, 1 November 2004: 18; Zadeh, Kaweh Sadegh, “Iran's Strategy in the South Caucasus,” Caucasian Review of International Affairs, 2, no.1 (Winter 2008)Google Scholar, http://cria-online.org/2_5.html (accessed 27 November 2009).

74 “Iran Azerbaijan Begin Mutual Transfer of Electricity,” The Journal of Turkish Weekly, 21 August 2006, http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/37036/iran-azerbaijan-begin-mutual-transfer-of-electricity.htm (19 November 2009).

75 Ettelaat, 28 October 1999: 4.

76 International Railway Journal, 1 April 2005, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-131972361/memorandum-understanding-has-been.html

77 Ajdar Kurtov, “Iranian Vector in Russia's International Economic Strategy,” Russia, Beyond the Headlines, 19 December 2008, http://rbth.ru/articles/2008/12/19/191208_iran.html (accessed 13 January 2010).

78 Ettelaat, 13 January 1997: 4.

79 Ettelaat, 21 February 2004: 19

80 Ettelaat, 20 May 2004: 4; “Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia to Set up Railway Company,” Eurasia Net, 25 March 2009, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/news/articles/eav032509c.shtml (accessed 19 January 2010).

81 Ettelaat, 12 August 2004: 18.

82 International Railway Journal, 1 April 2005.

83 Ettelaat, 6 May 1996.

84 Abrar, 17 July 1997: 12.

85 Islamic Republic, 28 December 2006: 4.

86 Iran, 8 Aug. 2004: 2.

87 See Oksana Antonenko, “Promotion Stability Democratizing in our Neighborhood: What Role for the EU in Southern Caucasus?,” European Parliament, 22 February 2006: 8–9.

88 “Troops Enforce Georgian Emergency,” BBC News, 8 November 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7084357.stm (accessed 12 November 2009).

89 Dolidze, Valerian, “Power, Revolution, and Business in Post-Revolutionary Georgia,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2, no. 38 (2006): 45–51.Google Scholar

90 Clail Bigg, “Moscow: Is Moscow Behind Georgian Unrest,” Radio Free Europe, 14 November 2007, http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1079133.html (accessed 19 January 2010).

91 Kandiyoti, Rafael, “What Price Access to the Open Seas? The Geopolitics of Oil and Gas Transmission from the Trans-Caspian Republics,” Central Asian Survey, 27, no. 1 (March 2008): 75–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

92 Bahman Aghaei Diba, “Baku–Ceyhan Pipeline: The Biggest Development In the Caspian Sea Since the Collapse of USSR,” Payvand's Iran News, 17 September 2002, http://www.netnative.com/news/02/sep/1060.html (accessed 2 November 2009).

93 Siasat Rouz, 30 January 2002: 16.

94 Ali Mohammad Naeeni, “Enghelabi barye bazigaran siyasi” [A Revolution for Political Players], Khedmat (Service), 16 November 2009, http://www.khedmat.ir/vdce.o8zbjh8nv9bij.htm (accessed 20 November 2009).

95 “Georgia, Abkhazia, S. Ossetia,” Alert Net, 22 July 2009, http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/GG_OSS.htm?v=in_detail (accessed 2 November 2009).

96 Ashot Egiazarian, “RoL Prirodnava Gaza v Energetike Gruzii,” http://compatriot.su/news/32100.html (accessed 25 October 2006).

97 Ettelaat, 23 January 1993: 3.

98 “Georgia Agrees to Buy Iranian Gas,” Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, News and Trends CIS/Russia, 9, no. 15, 4 August 2004, http://www.gasondoil.com/goc/new/ntr43133.htm (accessed 13 November 2009).

99 Ettelaat, 25 December 2004.

100 E. B. Maltsef, “Irano-gruzinski Gazapravod kak Faktor Globalnoi Energeticheski Ctrategii Тigirana” (2006), http://www.iimes.ru/rus/stat/2006/03-02-06.htm (accessed 13 November 2009).

101 Ruslam Ibrahimov, “2009: Russian Gas Policy – First Step Taken,” International Strategic Research Organization, Journal of Turkish Daily, http://www.usak.org.tr/EN/makale.asp?id=840 (accessed 13 November 2009); “Georgia Agrees to Buy Iranian Gas”, 4 August 2004.

102 Nino Patsuria, “Georgia: Is Natural Gas the New Weapon in the Conflict between Tbilisi and Moscow?,” Eurasia Net, 14 November 2008, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav111408b.shtml (accessed 14 November 2008).

103 Maltsef, “Irano-gruzinski Gazapravod”.

104 Free4now, IRNA, Baku, 18 August 2009, http://free4now.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/irans-first-aid-convoy-enters-gori-georgia (accessed 14 January 2010).

105 Kaweh L. Afrasiabi, “Iran Gambles over Georgia Crisis,” Asia Times Online, 16 August 2008, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JH16Ak01.html

106 AP, “Iran, Georgia Strike Gas Deal Amid Crisis,” China Daily, 13 November 2009, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/28/content_516251.htm (accessed 13 November 2009).

107 Vladimir Socor, “Iran–Armenia Pipeline: For More than Meets the Eyes,” The Georgetown Foundation, Eurasia Daily Monitor, 4, no. 56, 20 March 2007, http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=32607 (accessed 25 November 2009).

108 China Daily, 28 January 2006, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/28/content_516251.htm (accessed 12 January 2010).

109 “Iran to Build Power Plants in Georgia,” upi.com, 5 January 2010, http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/01/05/Iran-to-build-power-plants-in-Georgia/UPI-87781262713800/ (accessed 12 January 2010).

110 Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa, http://www.tiaa.edu.ge (accessed 13 November 2009).

111 Shaffer, Brenda, “Iran's Role in the South Caucasus and Caspian Region: Diverging Views of the U.S. and Europe,” in Iran and its Neighbors: Diverging Views on a Strategic Region (Cambridge, MA, 2003), 17–22Google Scholar