Since it was discovered that Iran supplies Russia with Shahad anti-ship missiles for the needs of the war in Ukraine, the role played by Armenia between the two has also been revealed. On the Tehran-Yervan-Moscow axis, Armenia serves as a logistical base for the military cooperation between Russia and Iran.

In 2020, the second Karabakh war between Armenia and its neighbor Azerbaijan took place, ending with an Azerbaijani victory and a cease-fire agreement. A peace agreement has not yet been signed between Baku and Yerevan.

Israel and Azerbaijan are friendly countries, Israel supplies Azerbaijan with many weapon systems, Azerbaijan supplies Israel with oil. About 40 percent of the oil that Israel imports comes from Azerbaijan.

Iran supplies weapons to Russia through various means of transportation, one of them through Armenia, such as the Shaheed missiles passing through Yerevan. India sells weapons to Armenia, and some in Israel express concern that such weapons may end up in the hands of the Iranians, and from there possibly to Syria.

Iranian propaganda campaign against Israel

In Azerbaijan, an Iranian propaganda campaign against Israel is being noticed. Iran claims that Azerbaijan is used by the Israeli Mossad as a gateway to Iran, which has a long border with Azerbaijan. "Cooperation between the Azerbaijanis and the Zionists," said publications in Iran.

There were also Iranian cyber attacks against Baku of an anti-Semitic nature with slogans that President Ilham Iliev was "collaborating with the Zionists", along with a Star of David sign.

The issue of transferring Iranian drones to Russia through Armenia made headlines. The US warned Yerevan about its close ties with Tehran and Moscow. CIA chief William Burns visited Yerevan, warned the government, and sanctions were even imposed on an Armenian company.

In the months of August-September last year, flights of Russian Ilyushin IL-76MD aircraft were registered to Armenia, which they transferred as aircraft carriers to Russia.

There were also such deliveries by the Iranian airline 'Iran Air Cargo', which is a subsidiary of 'Iran Air'. In 2020, the Armenian Ministry of Defense admitted to the transfer of weapons from Iran to Russia.

Forbes wrote in November 2022 that Armenia itself showed interest in buying Iranian submarines of the Shahid, Abadil and Mujahad models.

There are joint military maneuvers, a military cooperation agreement was signed, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdulhan declared in October 2020: "Armenia's security is also Iran's security."

Israel-Azerbaijan relations

These ties are conducted in several areas, in addition to military aid, about which they say in Baku: "There was a war, thousands were killed and wounded. It is over. In the past we were forced to invest in security, and Israel helped us in this war and the next."

There is close cooperation between Israel and the Azerbaijanis in the field of cyber. With the help of the Technion, a cyber defense center was opened in Baku. The head of Azerbaijan's national cyber system, General Ilgar Musayev, visited Israel at the center for managing cyber incidents in the national cyber system in Hi-Tech Park in Be'er Sheva.

The two countries cooperate in the development of startups, in cultural fields and special projects, such as supporting the Or-Avner Chabad school and school number 46 in Baku, which has classes for Jewish studies.

The two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1992. The Azerbaijani ambassador to Israel, Mukhtar Mamedov, is temporarily sitting in the offices of a trade delegation in Tel Aviv, until a place is found for an Azerbaijani embassy.

Ambassador Mamedov previously served as Deputy Minister of Science and Education in his country, as a Foreign Ministry official in his country's embassy in Belgium and headed the International Cooperation Division.

Photo: Reuters