You may have watched the footage: As the body of Orhan Askerov, who lost his life in the attack on the embassy building of Azerbaijan in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on the morning of January 27, was transferred to the plane at Imam Khomeini Airport to be sent to his country, Azerbaijani security, and intelligence officers pushed the Iranian soldiers aside and shouldered the coffin themselves. It was a very brief but very symbolic and important scene. It was hardly a surprise after the body of Askerov, who served as the security chief at the embassy, was kept on hold by Iran for "bureaucratic reasons" for two days.
Azerbaijan has taken two more remarkable steps:
It completely emptied its embassy mission in Tehran and recalled workers to the country. The 53-person convoy consisting of diplomats and their families left Tehran. Immediately after, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan issued a statement, asking citizens who plan to travel to Iran to be careful because of the "instability in the country". It is no secret that the "travel warning" announced to the public through official channels in diplomatic lingo is a clear expression of the lack of trust in the addressee country.
None of these came as a surprise. Because Iran, far from taking any concrete steps regarding the embassy attack, said, “Some of the attacks by Daesh members of Azerbaijani origin were carried out in our country, but we did not raise our voices. We need to settle these things between us without making too much of a big deal. He gave all the signs that he would not solve the issue by developing reactions that would mean "what happened was not a terrorist attack, but a personal act".
At the root of this deep crisis between Iran and Azerbaijan, which has reached such dimensions that it can no longer be hidden, lies the strategic alliance that Azerbaijan has formed in recent years by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Türkiye. If you recall, Iran has ostensibly supported Armenia in the last war (2020) in which Azerbaijani lands occupied by Yerevan were liberated, and delivered weapons, ammunition, and soldiers to the Armenians against Azerbaijan. Of course, Azerbaijan did not tolerate this overt hostility, and the necessary messages were conveyed to Tehran through the language of President Ilham Aliyev. Iran, which made the spread of Shi'ism its main goal in the Islamic region, was so disturbed by the possibility of the Turkish flag flying in the Caucasus that it chose to leave the "taqiyya" aside and take a direct stance against Azerbaijan. The Iranian state mind was torn between winning Azerbaijan and splitting an uninterrupted "Türkiye line" that would extend into Asia and found it more convenient to lose Baku.
Iran, which has increased its influence and gained superiority in 4 historical Arab capitals (Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut, Sanaa) in different contexts and conditions, continues to implement its sectarian agenda in other points of the Middle East and Islamic regions.
Leaving aside the conflicts with governments and governments, Iran's policy of reaching out to Muslim peoples and recruiting supporters from them has three main pillars: 1) to promote hostility towards Israel and America, 2) to be the flag bearer of the cause of Jerusalem and Palestine, 3) to love the Ahl al-Bayt. to create emotional common denominators. It is impossible for a humble and sincere Muslim who does not have a deep knowledge of what is going on in the world not to fall into this triangle that Iran has skillfully set up to hide its sectarian and Persian nationalist agenda. Iran is already taking advantage of this weakness of the masses.
But the example of Azerbaijan was an interesting exception in this regard:
The attitude of Iran, which preferred Armenia to Azerbaijan just because of the panic caused by Türkiye's gaining influence, left negative effects on the Azerbaijani people. The opposite of the passionate love and sincere sympathy shown in the hearts for Türkiye and the Turkish government is now available for the Iranian administration and Iran's policies. Iran has the same handicap in Iraq; The tendencies of Iraqi Shiite leaders to highlight the Arab identity and the country's interests are getting stronger. Practical reflections of the policies of deadlocking the country's politics in Lebanon through Hezbollah will be seen in the near future.
For the Middle East, which is stuck in the clutches of Zionist and Shiite expansionisms, the solution is of course not to align themselves with other foreign actors - all of whom have their own lists of interests related to the region. Until this truth is discovered and acted upon, there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. The steps taken by Azerbaijan are poised to set an encouraging example for many countries.
