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    The Cradle - Axis of encirclement: Azerbaijan, Israel, and Turkiye close in on Iran 📂 Archived Message

    Posted by sashimi on July 9, 2025, 7:33 pm, in reply to "The Cradle - Riyadh realigns: Tehran over Tel Aviv"

    9 Jul 2025

    Lede: Baku's triangulated alliance with Tel Aviv and Ankara is quietly reshaping
    regional security and energy equations, from the South Caucasus to the heart of
    the Axis of Resistance.

    The entrenchment of a tripartite alliance between Azerbaijan, Israel, and
    Turkiye is altering the balance of power across West Asia and the South
    Caucasus.

    This axis, decades in the making but operating largely in the shadows, has
    become a potent geostrategic and geoeconomic tool - most notably in the wars on
    Syria, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the mounting US-Israeli provocations
    against Iran.

    A covert relationship takes root
    Tel Aviv wasted no time forging ties with Baku after Azerbaijan declared
    independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991. By 1993, an Israeli embassy
    was already operating in the capital.

    This alliance - often compared to an iceberg with most of its mass hidden -
    rests on four intersecting interests: confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran,
    collaboration in energy and arms technology, leveraging Zionist lobbying power
    in Washington (especially against the Armenian lobby), and showcasing Israel's
    ability to bond with a Muslim-majority nation to counter isolation narratives.

    For the Israelis, Azerbaijan is a strategic forward base on Iran's northern
    border. Mossad's electronic surveillance posts - active since the 1990s -
    monitor Iran from Azerbaijani soil.

    Reports, though officially unconfirmed, point to Azerbaijan's role in enabling
    recent US-Israeli attacks on Iran, including drone strikes and the use of air
    bases. From Baku's perspective, Tel Aviv offers insurance against both Iran's
    regional assertiveness and Russia's lingering Soviet legacy.

    The demographic factor adds another layer: An estimated 15 million Iranian
    Azerbaijanis - almost double Azerbaijan's own population - make Tehran's
    approach to Baku particularly fraught.
    -- Cont'd at https://thecradle.co/articles/axis-of-encirclement-azerbaijan-israel-and-turkiye-close-in-on-iran

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