Since the Soviet collapse, Iran has quietly backed Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan, serving as Yerevan’s main supply route during the first Karabakh war and continuing close energy and trade ties ever since.
Brenda Shaffer argues this tilt was driven by Tehran’s fear of its own large ethnic-Azerbaijani population identifying with the newly independent Republic of Azerbaijan, but shows that domestic opposition to the policy has been building since 2017 as Iranian Azerbaijanis learn more about the extent of Iran’s cooperation with the occupying forces.
