October 3, 2021: Iran conducted military exercises near Azerbaijan border in last week of September as a warning to that country. Iran has expressed three complains. 1) Azerbaijan is demanding transit taxi from Iranian trucks that are carrying goods between Iran and Armenia. The transit road that runs north-south between Iran-Armenia border and Armenia's capital passes through the territories that Azerbaijan captured from Armenia last year. This is only a small segment of the road and it is no longer than a few kilometers. Azerbaijan is demanding Iranian trucks to pay a training tax ($110 per passage) for this short passage. Iran has protested this decision and the disruption of its transit truck movements. 2) Iran has protested Azerbaijan's cooperation with Israel for several years but to no avail. Iran is warning Azerbaijan not to allow Israel to use its territory for military and intelligence operations against Iran. 3) Iran is concerned about the recent military exercise near its border by Azerbaijan, Our,ey and Pakistan forces. Iran argues foreign countries should not conduct military exercises near its border.
In reaction to Iran's military exercise Turkey and Azerbaijan have announced that they will conduct a new round of military exercises in Nakhchevan region of Azerbaijan, near Iran border in the first week of October. This can lead to further deterioration of Iran-Turkey relations, which have already been tarnished by their rival positions in Syria.
Among Iran's three grievances, concern about Israel is the most important one. Israel is determined to use covert military operations against Iran by all means to set back its nuclear program. Access to Azerbaijan territory is a crucial element for the success of these operations and Iran is also well aware of this fact. Consequently Iran faces a very difficult choice with regard to Azerbaijan. if it uses military force to coerce Azerbaijan it will risk confrontation with Turkey which has a strong defense cooperation with that country. If it does not react, Israel can inflict considerable damage to Iran's military and nuclear assets because f its access to Azerbaijan.
Based on recent statements by Iranian officials they have consistently tried to use diplomatic means to alter Azerbaijan's policy but without any success. Azerbaijan relies heavily on Israel for advanced military hardware. These Israeli weapons played an important role in Azerbaijan's victory in its 2020 war with Armenia. Ever since its independence in 1991 Azerbaijan was maintained strong economic and military cooperations with Israel. it is believed that Israel is a major buyer of Azerbaijan's crude oil.
