Iran's tentacles loosen their grasp in one place, only to tighten somewhere else.
"When I came into office, Iran was going to take over the entire Middle East, right now they just want to survive... they do not want to mess around with us." President Trump stated during his daily televised coronavirus daily briefing last week.
The same week, the Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked boats, harassed the U.S. Navy, and Coast Guard vessels in the Persian Gulf. In response, Trump ordered, US Navy, via tweet, to: "Destroy Iranian boats harassing US ships."
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
That week, as I read about IRGC-supported Iranian trucks delivering fuel to Armenian-held Karabakh region. I pondered why Iran, a Shiite Muslim country, a self-proclaimed "guardian of all the world's Muslims," would support the Armenian control of land that belongs to the neighboring – and primarily Shiite Muslim – Republic of Azerbaijan?
Iran and Azerbaijan share a 611 km border. The Nagorno-Karabakh 1988-94 War resulted in a large portion – 132 km – of this border to be removed from Azerbaijan's lawful control. Armenia's control of approximately 20% of Azerbaijan's sovereign territory (the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts) caused ethnic cleansing of over 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians, all of whom, to date, are internally displaced and scattered all over Azerbaijan.
Armenia proceeded to create the "Republic of Artsakh" in the area internationally regarded as part of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The "Republic of Artsakh" is not recognized by any country, worldwide.
The Armenian got control over 132 km of Azerbaijan's border, which stretches between the Armenian town of Meghri and the Azerbaijani town of Horadiz, is Tehran's contact point with the "Republic of Artsakh."
The Khodaafari, a 13th century Bridge, built across the Araz River, is located well beyond global law and order agencies' reach, and is therefore useful to Iran. Considered illegal under international law, the bridge serves as the main crossing point from Iran to Nagorno-Karabakh, connecting Iran with the Azerbaijan's Jabrayil district.
It is the embodiment of Iran's cynicism.
While Iran claims to be a pious and ordered nation, it is pouring hard drugs, weapons, and fuel across this border crossing. This phenomenon is illustrated in Harrold Cane's well-penned article: The Islamic Republic.
Iranian smugglers drive trucks with Iranian license plates – mostly belonging to the Nasr Novin Mishu Company, a Nasr Company subsidiary located in Iran's northwestern cities of Sufian and Tabriz – operating under the auspices of IRGC in the northwestern part of Iran. The smugglers openly carry narcotics across the Araz River, into the Nagorno-Karabakh region-into Europe's back passage.
Obviously, money talks: Iran, a zealous Islamic theocracy, and Armenia, a Christian nation, make strange bedfellows.
Araz News, an independent news source focusing on ethnic Azerbaijanis, reports that drug trafficking is not the only nefarious activity occurring at the crossing; the IRGC is sending supplies, such as fuel, food, and construction materials, to Armenia-held Karabakh.
According to my sources, the Iranian trucks coming from north-west Iran, enter the Armenian-held Karabakh region, using at least two different points of entry routes, as seen in satellite images.
One route starts in Tabriz-to Meghri, a southern Armenian town that borders Iran via the Goris-Lachin highway to Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert (Khankendi).
The second route starts in Iran's Ardabil province's north-east Khomarly, leading to Azerbaijan's Jabrayil district which crosses a portion of Armenian-controlled territory since the early 1990s, the Iran-Azerbaijan's border.
On the Iranian side, both crossing points are connected to Iran's M12 Highway.
Footage causes uproar
Recent Facebook footage, filmed in Stepanakert, shows trucks and cars with Iranian license plates transporting fuel and food to Azerbaijan's Armenian-held territories. The video brought attention to Iran's ongoing involvement in supplying vital resources to the illegal Armenian-run regime in Karabakh.
Baku reacted fiercely to the footage, demanding that Iran conduct an official investigation. Iran adamantly refuted the claims.
Tehran conducts a two-faced policy with Baku: While claiming to support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, it permits Iranian trucks and cars to enter the region, tacitly supporting the UN-condemned Armenian control of Azerbaijan's lands.
Sanctions
President Trump pulled the US out of The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal – and has imposed extensive sanctions on Iran.
Amidst the mounting pressure from the US, the Iranian regime has been seeking alternative methods to circumvent the sanctions. Such as using Armenian and Karabakh region's banks to avoid the imposed sanctions.
In August 2019, the US Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on Armenian and Georgian companies linked to trade with blacklisted Iranian companies.
Geopolitical factors in play
Armenia's foreign policy is aligned with those of Moscow and Tehran: Its dependence on Iran poses a major threat to the West's interests in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region.
In relation to Azerbaijan and Armenia, Tehran's geopolitics, based on its national interests, is twofold – entailing official and pragmatic policies: With a large Azerbaijani population to its northern border, Tehran, whose notorious suppression of its ethnic minorities' rights have created distrust, fears a strong Baku may become an active advocate for Iranian-Azerbaijanis' rights within Iran.
The Iranian-Azerbaijani population – around 30 million – mainly reside in Iran's northwestern provinces and is the largest non-Persian ethnic group in Iran. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the staunchly secular Republic of Azerbaijan north of Iran, Iran may fear a potential "Azerbaijani irredentism" inside its territory.
The Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani lands appear to be beneficial for Tehran: Bordering Iran's north-west region, they create a 'buffer zone' between Azerbaijan and Iran's north-western Azerbaijani populated regions. Any resolution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, favoring Azerbaijan, may not be in Iran's interest. The present status-quo, in the Armenian-held regions bordering Iran, 'solves' one national security problem for Tehran.
Upon Azerbaijan's 2nd declaration of independence in the early 1990s, it strategically chose to be aligned with the West – including the US and Israel, Iran's two archenemies. A strong Iran-Armenia alliance was born out of fear from internal Azerbaijani irredentism, the Baku government's secular nature, and close ties with the West. Indeed to Iran, the adage; "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" holds true.
All the while Iran has shown support for radical Shia and separatist groups in Azerbaijan.
To date, Azerbaijan has managed to balance an open strategic partnering with the US and Israel while having normal neighborly relations with Iran, and avoiding opening a diplomatic envoy in Israel – despite being Israel's closest majority-Muslim ally.
Viewing Iran's increasing belligerence, I suggest Baku open an embassy in Israel and intensify the mutually beneficial Israeli-Azerbaijani partnership and cooperation.
Iran's current activities remind me of the idiom, "when the cat's away, the mice will play."
A world busy defending itself from the Coronavirus pandemic seems to be a beneficial opportunity for bad actors; without supervision, they do as they please, disregarding and breaking law and order.
