Iran's Military Exercises at Azerbaijani Border
Iran has initiated military drills on its border with Azerbaijan in protest of its relationship with Israel
Iran’s national army began military exercises on Friday at its border with Azerbaijan. Iran has initiated these exercises in response to Azerbaijan’s relationship with Israel—its primary regional rival.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “We do not tolerate the presence and activity against our national security of the Zionist regime, or Israel, next to our border.”
Israel has supplied Azerbaijan with approximately $825 million in arms from 2006 to 2019, which has mainly consisted of loitering munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles for surveilling Iran, anti-tank missiles, and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Israel has also been known to provide Azerbaijan with intelligence on Iran.
Social media posts, such as the one below, appear to show the movement of military equipment through Iran to the Azerbaijani border. Iran has said that tanks, artillery, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles have been or will be participating in the ongoing exercises.
Tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan create complications for Armenia, which only has one transport link connecting it to Iran. This highway, part of which is Azerbaijani-controlled, is critically important to the exchange of fuel and other goods between Armenia and Iran.
Azerbaijani police forces have set up checkpoints on the highway to stop Iranian trucks in transit to Armenia altogether or charge them entry fees.