Tweet
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 2 2014
Tehran offers helping hand to Baku
2 September 2014 - 7:02pm
Rapprochement became possible with the course of openness and pacifism
of Hassan Rouhani
By Yuri Glushkov exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Improving Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are an overt tendency of the
current political season in the South Caucasus. It has become possible
with the course of openness and pacifism taken by Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani elected a year ago. His policy is often compared with
that of fifth President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). The same
softness in approaches to relations with the West regarding
development of the nuclear program of Tehran, an attempt to
demonstrate readiness for agreements, decisiveness to protect
independence of policy and refusal to submit to foreign principles.
Khatami's "thaw" was followed by a "freeze" and crash into harsh
confrontation with the U.S. during the reign of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian diplomacy became more talkie-talkie and tartish, fitting into
theses like "you are not our boss," "we do what we think we need." As
a result, Iran was directly hit by sanctions and threatened with a
military strike, a topic discussed in the past years, and economic
collapses with galloping inflation.Hassan Rouhani managed to minimize
the threat of war with the Americans and their allies in just a year
and managed to achieve sanction relief, keeping the right to peaceful
uranium enrichment for production of electricity at nuclear power
plants. Iran is interested in further release from sanction isolation,
and the northern path through Azerbaijan to Russia is becoming more
topical. Rapprochement of Tehran and Moscow after the announced oil
trade deal creates a new basis for regional cooperation. On this
background, positive moves in relations with Azerbaijan are not
anything sensational, though the pace deserves special consideration.
In January, the presidents of the two states Ilham Aliyev and Hassan
Rouhani, met in Davos. In April the Azerbaijani president visited
Tehran. In August, entrepreneurs of both countries gathered for a
business forum in Baku. A new summit will start in Astrakhan on
September 29, leaders of the five Caspian states plan to have a new
round of talks. Hassan Rouhani may visit Baku before or after the
Astrakhan summit.Since Iran is the main decelerator in finding a
consensus for the legal status of the Caspian Sea, Rouhani is expected
to make a breakthrough. Iran is not satisfied with the sectoral
separation of the sea that Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have
already implemented. It is based on the old Caspian agreement signed
in the mid-20th century, granting Iran about 13% of the sea's
territory. Iran demands an equal 20% part.
The presidents of the five countries will meet to define the current
state of negotiations. It is obvious that the position of Iran has a
tendency to shift towards reaching a final legal agreement on the
Caspian. In its time, Iran took part in the Shah Deniz gas project in
the Azerbaijani shelf of the Caspian, granted a 10% share. Iran's
NICO, representing the country, was free from U.S. sanctions.NICO
loads about 230,000 tons of Shah Deniz gas condensate, worth about
$170 million, from the Batumi Oil Terminal annually. The gas is sold
for an average of about $200 million. These profits will rise in the
future because the Shah Deniz project has entered its second phase of
realization and Azerbaijani gas will be sold in Europe.
The trade turnover of Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $300-500 million
in 2013. Some financial interaction is done in the form of barter.
According to a swap deal, Azerbaijani gas is pumped to the north of
Iran, and Iran sends about 350-400 million cubic meters of gas to the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, receiving 15% of the
volume as payment for pumping.After reorganizing the Caspian Maritime
Shipping system in Azerbaijan, the navigation was liberalized and the
number of Iranian ships entering Azerbaijani ports increased. Iran's
military threats towards Azerbaijani research ships exploring oil and
gas resources in the southern part of the Caspian Sea were forgotten.
Iran plans to use Azerbaijani experience and develop its own programs
for exploration and extraction of Caspian hydrocarbons.In August, a
delegation of Azerbaijani oil specialists headed by Khoshbakht
Yusifzadeh, vice president of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan
Republic (SOCAR), visited Tehran at the invitation of the Khazar
Exploration and Production Company (KEPKO). It was received at the
Iranian Petroleum Ministry, oil and gas companies. Iranians were
interested in prospects of cooperation in the oil and gas sector,
transportation and exports of hydrocarbons.
At a session of the State Commission for Cooperation in the Economic,
Commercial and the Humanitarian Sectors of Azerbaijan and Iran in
March, a decision was made to speed up construction of the
Qazvin-Rasht, Astara(Iran) - Astara(Azerbaijan) Railway. Iran has
accomplished 80% of construction on the Qazvin-Rasht section, the
remaining 20% will be completed in an intensified regime. The
construction within the framework of the North-South Transportation
Corridor is supervised by a trilateral consortium created by
Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. The new transportation infrastructure
will improve business opportunities in the Caspian Region: Russia and
Azerbaijan will be given direct access to the ports of Iran in the
Persian Gulf, Iran will be given access to Russian ports in the Black
and the Baltic seas.Azerbaijan and Iran made certain political
gestures to each other. The Azerbaijani side sent several dozen
Iranian convicts imprisoned in Azerbaijan this summer. The sides
reached an agreement on crossing television signals in neighbouring
districts. The Azerbaijanis had often been accusing Iran of purposeful
strengthening of TV signals to send unfriendly propaganda.
However, Azerbaijan is not ready to open its borders to Iranians by
lifting the visa regime, while Iran has already done so for
Azerbaijani people on a short-term basis.Baku remains cautious in
rapprochement with Tehran because the times of tensions are still in
the memory and existing differences cannot be wiped out in just one
stroke. Azerbaijan does not approve of Iran's position in active
cooperation with Armenia, a country that continues occupation of
Azerbaijani districts and Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite assurances by
Iranian politicians that they have no territorial claims in the region
and fully support the integrity of Azerbaijan, Iran has not taken any
practical steps to end the occupation.Iran, as an Islamic state, is
actively supporting various religious branches in Azerbaijan,
something the secular government does not like too much.
The Iranian side shows great concerns about intensive cooperation of
Azerbaijan with Israel, including in the military sector too. Deals to
purchase equipment for the needs of the Azerbaijani army are worth
over $1.6 billion.Baku has demonstrated many times that it has an
independent foreign policy. It can distance itself from directly
criticizing Israel in the conflict with Palestine and refrain from
joining the anti-Israeli campaign of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Azerbaijan's number one ally. But the independence has not
allowed Azerbaijan to emphasize good-neighbourly relations with Iran,
refusing to back the course taken by Western states taken to provoke
direct armed confrontation with Iran in 2012.A common religion and a
community of about 20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran make the
countries closer neighbours. Neither Baku nor Tehran are interested in
influence of non-regional players on their policy, especially their
domination in the Caspian. The forming regional axis of cooperation
and security, which includes Russia as the main component, is capable
of resolving arising issues and putting an end to crises. The Caspian
summit in Astrakhan will be held in new political realities. It will
let countries take a new glance at the potential of the region,
discarding old stereotypes and prejudices.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/59555.html
Sept 2 2014
Tehran offers helping hand to Baku
2 September 2014 - 7:02pm
Rapprochement became possible with the course of openness and pacifism
of Hassan Rouhani
By Yuri Glushkov exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Improving Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are an overt tendency of the
current political season in the South Caucasus. It has become possible
with the course of openness and pacifism taken by Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani elected a year ago. His policy is often compared with
that of fifth President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). The same
softness in approaches to relations with the West regarding
development of the nuclear program of Tehran, an attempt to
demonstrate readiness for agreements, decisiveness to protect
independence of policy and refusal to submit to foreign principles.
Khatami's "thaw" was followed by a "freeze" and crash into harsh
confrontation with the U.S. during the reign of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian diplomacy became more talkie-talkie and tartish, fitting into
theses like "you are not our boss," "we do what we think we need." As
a result, Iran was directly hit by sanctions and threatened with a
military strike, a topic discussed in the past years, and economic
collapses with galloping inflation.Hassan Rouhani managed to minimize
the threat of war with the Americans and their allies in just a year
and managed to achieve sanction relief, keeping the right to peaceful
uranium enrichment for production of electricity at nuclear power
plants. Iran is interested in further release from sanction isolation,
and the northern path through Azerbaijan to Russia is becoming more
topical. Rapprochement of Tehran and Moscow after the announced oil
trade deal creates a new basis for regional cooperation. On this
background, positive moves in relations with Azerbaijan are not
anything sensational, though the pace deserves special consideration.
In January, the presidents of the two states Ilham Aliyev and Hassan
Rouhani, met in Davos. In April the Azerbaijani president visited
Tehran. In August, entrepreneurs of both countries gathered for a
business forum in Baku. A new summit will start in Astrakhan on
September 29, leaders of the five Caspian states plan to have a new
round of talks. Hassan Rouhani may visit Baku before or after the
Astrakhan summit.Since Iran is the main decelerator in finding a
consensus for the legal status of the Caspian Sea, Rouhani is expected
to make a breakthrough. Iran is not satisfied with the sectoral
separation of the sea that Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have
already implemented. It is based on the old Caspian agreement signed
in the mid-20th century, granting Iran about 13% of the sea's
territory. Iran demands an equal 20% part.
The presidents of the five countries will meet to define the current
state of negotiations. It is obvious that the position of Iran has a
tendency to shift towards reaching a final legal agreement on the
Caspian. In its time, Iran took part in the Shah Deniz gas project in
the Azerbaijani shelf of the Caspian, granted a 10% share. Iran's
NICO, representing the country, was free from U.S. sanctions.NICO
loads about 230,000 tons of Shah Deniz gas condensate, worth about
$170 million, from the Batumi Oil Terminal annually. The gas is sold
for an average of about $200 million. These profits will rise in the
future because the Shah Deniz project has entered its second phase of
realization and Azerbaijani gas will be sold in Europe.
The trade turnover of Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $300-500 million
in 2013. Some financial interaction is done in the form of barter.
According to a swap deal, Azerbaijani gas is pumped to the north of
Iran, and Iran sends about 350-400 million cubic meters of gas to the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, receiving 15% of the
volume as payment for pumping.After reorganizing the Caspian Maritime
Shipping system in Azerbaijan, the navigation was liberalized and the
number of Iranian ships entering Azerbaijani ports increased. Iran's
military threats towards Azerbaijani research ships exploring oil and
gas resources in the southern part of the Caspian Sea were forgotten.
Iran plans to use Azerbaijani experience and develop its own programs
for exploration and extraction of Caspian hydrocarbons.In August, a
delegation of Azerbaijani oil specialists headed by Khoshbakht
Yusifzadeh, vice president of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan
Republic (SOCAR), visited Tehran at the invitation of the Khazar
Exploration and Production Company (KEPKO). It was received at the
Iranian Petroleum Ministry, oil and gas companies. Iranians were
interested in prospects of cooperation in the oil and gas sector,
transportation and exports of hydrocarbons.
At a session of the State Commission for Cooperation in the Economic,
Commercial and the Humanitarian Sectors of Azerbaijan and Iran in
March, a decision was made to speed up construction of the
Qazvin-Rasht, Astara(Iran) - Astara(Azerbaijan) Railway. Iran has
accomplished 80% of construction on the Qazvin-Rasht section, the
remaining 20% will be completed in an intensified regime. The
construction within the framework of the North-South Transportation
Corridor is supervised by a trilateral consortium created by
Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. The new transportation infrastructure
will improve business opportunities in the Caspian Region: Russia and
Azerbaijan will be given direct access to the ports of Iran in the
Persian Gulf, Iran will be given access to Russian ports in the Black
and the Baltic seas.Azerbaijan and Iran made certain political
gestures to each other. The Azerbaijani side sent several dozen
Iranian convicts imprisoned in Azerbaijan this summer. The sides
reached an agreement on crossing television signals in neighbouring
districts. The Azerbaijanis had often been accusing Iran of purposeful
strengthening of TV signals to send unfriendly propaganda.
However, Azerbaijan is not ready to open its borders to Iranians by
lifting the visa regime, while Iran has already done so for
Azerbaijani people on a short-term basis.Baku remains cautious in
rapprochement with Tehran because the times of tensions are still in
the memory and existing differences cannot be wiped out in just one
stroke. Azerbaijan does not approve of Iran's position in active
cooperation with Armenia, a country that continues occupation of
Azerbaijani districts and Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite assurances by
Iranian politicians that they have no territorial claims in the region
and fully support the integrity of Azerbaijan, Iran has not taken any
practical steps to end the occupation.Iran, as an Islamic state, is
actively supporting various religious branches in Azerbaijan,
something the secular government does not like too much.
The Iranian side shows great concerns about intensive cooperation of
Azerbaijan with Israel, including in the military sector too. Deals to
purchase equipment for the needs of the Azerbaijani army are worth
over $1.6 billion.Baku has demonstrated many times that it has an
independent foreign policy. It can distance itself from directly
criticizing Israel in the conflict with Palestine and refrain from
joining the anti-Israeli campaign of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Azerbaijan's number one ally. But the independence has not
allowed Azerbaijan to emphasize good-neighbourly relations with Iran,
refusing to back the course taken by Western states taken to provoke
direct armed confrontation with Iran in 2012.A common religion and a
community of about 20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran make the
countries closer neighbours. Neither Baku nor Tehran are interested in
influence of non-regional players on their policy, especially their
domination in the Caspian. The forming regional axis of cooperation
and security, which includes Russia as the main component, is capable
of resolving arising issues and putting an end to crises. The Caspian
summit in Astrakhan will be held in new political realities. It will
let countries take a new glance at the potential of the region,
discarding old stereotypes and prejudices.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/59555.html