The first visit of an Iranian President to Baku since 6 years promises improvement of bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the energy sector.
The first visit of an Iranian President to Baku since 6 years promises improvement of bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the energy sector.
By Masoud Sadrmohammadi
Although Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s trip to Baku last week was a one-day visit due to the necessity of his presence in Iran to manage the explosion incident at Shahid Rajaee Port on the Persian Gulf coast, it was considered an important and historic trip in Iran-Azerbaijan relations. This is because Pezeshkian was the first Iranian president to enter Baku after six years. Over the past six years, Iran-Azerbaijan relations have experienced significant ups and downs and have been full of various political controversies.
In the past six years, especially after the Karabakh War (2020), Iran concluded that Baku was moving in a different direction from Iran’s sensitivities. The strengthening of Israel’s presence in Azerbaijan, the strengthening of Türkiye’s presence in Azerbaijan, the weakening of Iranian institutions in Azerbaijan, and the use of belligerent rhetoric in the Azerbaijani press, which in most cases is government-controlled, all pushed Tehran towards a negative approach towards Baku. In contrast, events such as the armed attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, the harsh rhetoric of the Iranian press towards Azerbaijan, and the dissemination of false news about hostile actions by Azerbaijan against Iran were among the issues that made Azerbaijan pessimistic about Iran’s policy towards it. Thus, after a period of several years of cold relations, sometimes accompanied by verbal tensions between politicians and the press of both sides, Masoud Pezeshkian’s trip to Baku signals a new phase in the relations between the two countries.
The quality of the trip matters more than the trip itself
While the very act of a president’s visit to another country indicates good relations or a growing trend in bilateral relations, what was particularly striking about Pezeshkian’s trip to Baku was its quality and manner. In personal conversations with Azerbaijani officials, Pezeshkian spoke in Azerbaijani Turkish, and even during a joint speech with Ilham Aliyev for businesspeople and economic actors from both countries, he recited remarkably impactful poems in Turkish. Even a week after Pezeshkian’s visit to Baku, social networks in Azerbaijan and Iran continue to react to his poetry recitation, and the positive impact on public opinion in both countries is evident.
Pezeshkian’s warm personality, his presence at the grave of the late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, his appearances in Baku city, and his speeches, which emphasized the cultural and historical commonalities between the two countries, were among the most significant factors that amplified the impact of this trip on public opinion and the political atmosphere in Azerbaijan. In his speech in Baku, Pezeshkian emphasized, “We are not merely neighbors; many of our citizens are relatives and have family ties.”
Trip Objectives
From the first day of his tenure, Pezeshkian declared that he would continue the “neighborhood diplomacy” strategy pursued during the presidency of Ebrahim Raisi, the former Iranian president. Therefore, Pezeshkian’s trip to Baku should be seen as an affirmation of Iran’s continued strategy of strengthening neighborhood diplomacy. Pezeshkian announced the development of a “comprehensive strategic plan” to expand economic, cultural, scientific, industrial, political, and security cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, referring to it as a framework for deepening relations.
It seems Tehran has concluded that to regulate Azerbaijan’s political behavior towards itself, it should move from negative competition with other rivals, such as Türkiye and Israel, in Azerbaijan, towards positive competition with them. The shared border and numerous common interests between Tehran and Baku can be Iran’s main advantage point in creating a positive balance in its favor in competition with Türkiye and Israel.
This is why Iran has focused particularly on the Aras corridor in the past year and is trying to strengthen the Moscow-Baku-Tehran energy and transit axis by creating this corridor, which runs parallel to the Aras River from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan. This corridor can be an alternative to the Zangezur corridor and strengthen Iran’s position as a transit route between Azerbaijan and Türkiye.
In fact, Iran, in a significant strategy, is moving from reducing tensions with all its neighbors to emphasizing the economic benefits of cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, and the agenda of Pezeshkian’s trip also reflected this major goal.
In this regard, Farzaneh Sadegh, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development, who visited Azerbaijan a few weeks before Pezeshkian’s trip to Baku, called the country a key partner for Iran’s access to new markets and diversification of the country’s economy.
Joint Infrastructure Projects: A Symbol of Long-Term Cooperation
It appears that both countries have come to the conclusion that political friction and tension have not benefited either of them. Therefore, from both Tehran’s and Baku’s perspectives, the era of ambiguous and double-edged policies has ended, and the time has come for the formation of genuine alliances based on mutual interests. Consequently, the emphasis on cooperation in infrastructure projects is one of the most prominent manifestations of this new phase in relations. These projects include:
- Rasht-Astara Railway: The completion of this key railway line, which is part of the North-South Corridor, is planned for 2025. This project will connect Iran to Russia and European markets via Azerbaijani territory, strengthening the South Caucasus’ role as a Eurasian transport hub.
- Joint Dams on the Aras River: The Khoda Afarin and Qiz Qalasi dams, which became operational last year, in addition to generating hydroelectric power, will enable the supply of water needed for over 400,000 hectares of agricultural land on both sides of the border, which is of vital importance in the context of climate change.
- Aras Corridor: The creation of a transportation route between the main part of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through Iranian territory provides Baku with an important alternative independent of Armenia’s will and helps strengthen Azerbaijan’s internal ties and increase the region’s logistical capacities.
These projects demonstrate that Tehran and Baku, with a long-term vision, are creating the necessary infrastructure for a sustainable partnership.
The Future of Relations
Given Iran’s emphasis on activating the North-South Corridor between Russia and the Persian Gulf, it will undoubtedly make every effort to improve relations with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has also achieved a balance in its relations with various parties and can pursue a more independent policy going forward. Therefore, it is reasonable to hope that, barring major political shifts in the region, the relationship between the two countries will improve. The manner in which short-term plans, particularly those signed in the energy sector between the two sides, are pursued will indicate the trajectory of longer-term developments.