出版社：Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) & Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
摘要：Iran’s nuclear plans and Israel’s attempts to deter a nuclear Iran are part of the Israeli- Iranian ‘secret war’, a ‘war’ which has recently spread beyond the boundaries of Israel and Iran. Accordingly, Azerbaijani officials have speculated that the Hezbollah and e ven Iran may be responsible for recent plans to attack an Israeli politician and members of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan. These foiled attacks and the consequent fear over potential future attacks backed by Iran have led to heightened tension between Azerbaijan and Iran and greater speculation that Azerbaijan may become a battleground of the Israeli-Iranian secret war. This article will provide a political and security assessment of Israel-Iran-Azerbaijan triangular relations, particularly in the context of Iran’s growing nuclear capability. The article shall cover the recent foiled attacks in Azerbaijan and introduce one of the main sources of tension between Iran and Azerbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijanis. Iranian fears over irredentist claims and Turkish influence over ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran have fuelled discrimination against this group with instances such as the Cartoon Crisis and the Lake Urmia incident. Furthermore, a background and recent developments of relations between these countries shall be provided. While relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have been historically been cordial, they have been growing increasingly more distant due to Iran’s support of Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, alliance with Russia in the case of the status of the Caspian Sea, attempt to influence Azerbaijan’s political and religious orientation, and due to recent events including Azerbaijan’s growing cooperation with the United States and Israel. Similarly, relations between Iran and Israel shifted from warm under the time of the Shah to sour following the Ir anian Revolution, primarily due to Israeli officials’ belief that Iran has sponsored terror groups hostile to Israel
