Israel and Azerbaijan both live in "a very tough neighborhood,” Fuad Akhundov tells JNS.
The fall of the Assad regime after more than five decades is especially significant because it undermines the destabilizing influence of Iran and Russia in the region, according to an Azerbaijani historian visiting Israel.
The scholar from Baku’s frank remarks on the unrest in the Middle East highlight the alliance between the Jewish state and the Shi’ite country, ties that continue to flourish despite the war against Hamas in Gaza.
“For us, anything that undermines the destructive influence of Iran and Russia is a positive development,” Fuad Akhundov told JNS in an interview in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. “This [the overthrow of Bashar Assad] significantly undermines two very destabilizing forces in the Middle East.”