What’s driving tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran?

Published by
Al-Araby

For the first time since the 2000s, tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran have dramatically escalated in recent weeks. They began when Tehran started conducting large-scale military drills codenamed ‘Fatehan-e Khaybar’ (Conquerors of Khaybar) near the Azerbaijani districts of Fizuli, Jebrayil, and Zangilan, the latter of which was captured from Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020. This took place just weeks after Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan undertook a two-week-long trilateral military drill in Baku called ‘Three brothers – 2021’. In turn, the location of Iranian m…