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By Tom O'Connor
Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy
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The complex ties between Iran and Azerbaijan have been thrust into the spotlight after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died alongside members of his entourage in a helicopter crash following a trip to the border between the two nations.
Raisi had attended a ceremony overseeing the opening of the Qiz Qalasi Dam with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Sunday before boarding the U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter to the Iranian city of Tabriz in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan in the midst of heavy fog conditions. Accompanying him on the return trip was Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azerbaijan Governor General Malek Rahmati, Tabriz Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem and an unspecified number of guards and crew members.
Aliyev was among the first foreign leaders to express his concerns upon news that contact was lost with the helicopter carrying Raisi somewhere over East Azerbaijan province. He offered prayers and stated, "As a neighbor, friend, and brotherly country, the Republic of Azerbaijan stands ready to offer any assistance needed."
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A massive search and rescue effort commenced, with support from abroad, including Turkey and the European Union, and after the site of the crash was located, Raisi and all those on board the helicopter were declared dead.
Aliyev then reached out directly on Monday to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling the event a "tragic loss" in which "the Iranian people lost a prominent statesman who served his country with dedication and loyalty all his life."
"On this day of sorrow, I pray to Allah Almighty to grant patience and fortitude to the friendly and brotherly people of Iran," Aliyev said. "We share in your grief and on behalf of myself and the people of Azerbaijan, I extend our deepest condolences to you, the families and loved ones of those who perished, and to your entire nation."
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Condolences were also offered to Iranian counterparts from Azerbaijan's foreign minister, defense minister, the speaker of Parliament and other top officials in Baku.
Ties between the fellow majority-Shiite Muslim nations have fluctuated over the years, though relations had most recently been on the upswing at the time of Raisi's death.
"Despite all ups and downs for at least the last three years, thanks to political will of our leaders, and strategic vision, Azerbaijan-Iran relations are back to normal," Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada told Newsweek. "The meeting of May 19 between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran, the commissioning and inauguration of important projects on the border was one of the important chapters in the history of Iran-Azerbaijan relations."
"We were deeply shocked by the tragic demise of [the] president, foreign minister and other officials of Iran as a result of a helicopter crash following the mentioned meeting. We mourn these heartbreaking deaths, a tragic loss beyond words," Hajizada added.
"At the same time, despite tragic events and disturbances, we believe it is important to take Azerbaijan-Iran relations forward, and Azerbaijan is ready to work with current and future Iranian leadership to that end."
Hajizada further noted that "Azerbaijan-Iran relations have historic roots, and these relations are an important condition for [the] well-being of our nations and for stability in our region."
Newsweek reached out to the Iranian Embassy to Azerbaijan and the Iranian Mission to the United Nations for comment.
Despite recent improvements, however, a degree of mistrust has lingered between Baku and Tehran on certain issues.
Among the prevailing grievances from the Islamic Republic has been Azerbaijan's decision to boost ties with Iran's top foe, Israel, in recent years. Some Iranian experts and commentators have gone as far as to reference concerns over a "second Israel" being established in the South Caucasus.
While tensions have risen substantially between Iran and Israel since the war in Gaza erupted last October, Aliyev only further boosted cooperation with the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February.
The Israeli government did not immediately issue any official reaction to Raisi's death, though far-right Parliament member Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, referred to Raisi as a "brutal man" and said "we won't shed a tear" over his death. Reuters cited an unnamed Israeli official denying any involvement in the crash that led to Raisi's death.
Still, suspicions remain rife owing to the heightened tensions across the region, and the relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel.
"Iran is investigating all aspects related to the tragic incident of the helicopter crash," Ahmad Kazemi, a professor of international law in Tehran, told Newsweek. "The issue of the possibility of the Israeli regime using the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan to disrupt the electronic operation of the helicopter or any other destructive action is raised as a hypothesis."
"In the last twenty years, the Israeli regime has repeatedly used the capabilities of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and other terrorist acts," Kazemi added. "The Aliyev family showed that they are eager to give big security concessions to Iran's enemies. If the mentioned hypothesis is proved, all the equations in the region will be fundamentally changed to the detriment of the Israeli regime and the Republic of Azerbaijan."
Thus far, there have been no official accusations or indications pertaining to foul play in relation to the helicopter crash that killed Raisi and his those accompanying him.
United States-Iran frictions have also intensified over the course of the conflict in Gaza, but U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller offered the country's condolences over the incident while reaffirming "our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Other concerns in Iran regarding Azerbaijan have been directed toward suspected ties between Baku and Azeri separatist movements in northwestern Iran. Iran is home to a sizable minority of ethnic Azeris, numbering up to a quarter of the population by some estimates and majorities in the regions bordering Azerbaijan.
Majad Javadi Araz, a spokesperson for the separatist Azerbaijan National Resistance Organization, mocked the search and rescue effort for Raisi on Monday, noting that it was a Turkish drone that appeared to first locate the site of the helicopter crash. Araz also observed how Aliyev sought to link together "the two coasts of Aras," the river that divides Iran and Azerbaijan where the two leaders met Sunday to inaugurate the new dam prior to Raisi's death.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani authorities have cracked down on pro-Iran elements in their own country, particularly those tied to the "Islamic Resistance in Azerbaijan," also known as the "Huseyniyun," a self-proclaimed part of the broader "Axis of Resistance" coalition aligned with Iran. As Iran and Israel exchanged a direct series of attacks last month, Axis of Resistance factions reported on the death of a Huseyniyun official in Azerbaijani prison.
The Huseyniyun-affiliated Azerbaijan Studies Center also closely followed the news of Raisi's helicopter crash and accused alleged Israel-affiliated actors of seeking to create instability in the event that the Iranian president was declared dead. Following confirmation of his demise, the Huseyniyun issued a statement Monday congratulating Khamenei for the "martyrdom" of Raisi and his companions.
Other complaints from Baku stem from accusations that Iran supported Armenian and allied separatist forces in recent conflicts over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
But Iran and Azerbaijan do share a number of common interests, particularly the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INTSC), an ambitious rail project that seeks to connect India to Russia by way of Iran and Azerbaijan. With tensions still simmering over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and just days after war erupted between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Iran signed a historic agreement last October to establish the Aras corridor to allow Azerbaijan access via Iranian territory to the exclave province of Nakhchivan.
The route would provide an alternative to the more controversial Zangezur corridor plan, which would cut through Armenia and potentially lead to further conflict and instability in the South Caucasus. The Aras corridor agreement marked a positive shift in ties between Tehran and Baku, which were further boosted during Amir-Abdollahian's follow-up visit to Azerbaijan in March.
Raisi's border visit was viewed as yet another affirmation of warming relations between the two countries, during which Aliyev declared "there will be many more meetings in the future" just hours before Raisi's death would overshadow the trip.
Prior to the confirmation of Raisi's death, Khamenei had vowed continuity in Iran's governance and has since named First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as acting president per Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution, while nuclear negotiations chief Ali Bagheri was named acting foreign minister. New elections are set to be held within 50 days.
Update 05/21/2024, 10:22 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include expert comments by Professor Ahmed Kazemi.
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