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Azerbaijan–Iran relations are foreign relations between Azerbaijan and Iran. Iran has an embassy in Baku and a consulate-general in Nakhchivan City. Azerbaijan has an embassy in Tehran and a consulate-general in Tabriz. Iran and Azerbaijan share, to a large extent, the same history, religion, ethnicity, and culture.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus )〕 The territory of what is now called the Republic of Azerbaijan was only separated from Iran in the first half of the 19th century, through the Russo-Persian Wars. In the area to the North of the river Aras, the territory of the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan was Iranian territory until it was occupied by Russia. Iran and Azerbaijan are furthermore the only official Shia Muslim nations in the world where the vast majority of the people are Shia Muslims. They have respectively the highest and second highest Shia population percentage in the world,〔Juan Eduardo Campo,''Encyclopedia of Islam'', p.625〕 as well as the history of Shi'ism which is rooted in both nations from exactly the same moment in history,〔(The Caspian: politics, energy and security, By Shirin Akiner, pg.158 )〕 whereas the majority of the population of both their neighboring nations are either predominantly Christians or Sunni Muslims. Despite this, the religious landscape in both countries are completely different. Iran is a theocratic state that actively promotes and imposes the faith on the people, whereas Azerbaijan is officially secular and discourages religious influence in the public sphere and state affairs; additionally, religious observance is extremely low in the population due to decades of Soviet rule. The world's largest population of ethnic Azerbaijanis also live in Iran, far outnumbering those in neighboring Azerbaijan Republic. As the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, a relatively downwards spiral started in the modern relations between Iran and Azerbaijan which lasted up to and including 2012, mainly commencing due to issues surrounding Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Armenia. Iran, instead of backing up Azerbaijan, backed up Christian Armenia, much to the anger of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran's own large ethnic Azerbaijani population, both of whom viewed this as an act of betrayal.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Azerbaijani Ethno-nationalism: A Danger Signal for Iran )〕 However, recently since 2013-2014, relations have significantly re-improved with the advent of the Hassan Rouhani administration, who has since the start of his administration put significant efforts in making Azerbaijani-Iranian ties soar higher than ever. In May 2015, the Ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan announced that it doesn't recognize the self-proclaimed “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”, further boosting Azerbaijan–Iran relations. Iran and Azerbaijan have had modern diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Both countries are full members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). == Context == For almost all of her history, the territory of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan was a part of the various Iranian/Persian empires or Persianate empires, specifically during the reign of dynasties such as Median, Achaemenid, Parthians, Sassanid, the Shirvanshah, various dynasties of the Iranian Intermezzo, the Kara Koyunlu, the Ak Koyunlu, the Safavids, the Afsharids, the Zands, and the Qajars. The South Caucasus, in general, has been influenced by Iranian culture for thousands of years. In the course of the 19th century, following the occupation of the Caucasus by Russian troops during the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) and Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), Qajar Iran was forced to cede what is now Azerbaijan, alongside Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia to Imperial Russia under the terms of the treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay. Due to historical, cultural, ethnical, and religious ties,〔Svante Cornell, "Small nations and great powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus", Richmond : Curzon Press, 2001, pp. 318〕 the Republic of Azerbaijan is considered as a part of Greater Iran.〔(''Encyclopaedia Iranica'' - "Caucasus and Iran" )〕 According to Pierre Thorez: ''"Although throughout history the Caucasus has usually been incorporated in political entities belonging to the Iranian world, at the beginning of the 19th century Russia took it, along with the Transcaucasus, from the Qajars (1133–1342/1779–1924), severing those historical ties. Since the establishment of Soviet power on Caucasian territory, relations with Persia have been reduced to an insignificant level."''.〔 According to Tadeusz Swietochowski, the territories of Iran and the republic of Azerbaijan usually shared the same history from the time of ancient Media (ninth to seventh centuries b.c.) and the Persian Empire (sixth to fourth centuries b.c.).〔Historical Background Vol. 3, Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM, 02-28-1996〕 During an official visit to Baku in October 2012, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described his country’s relations with Azerbaijan as “brotherly and very deep,” pointing to the countries’ shared ethnic and religious heritage. A very large amount of ethnic Azerbaijanis populate the northwest region of Iran and are nowadays called native to the region, which is also called Azerbaijan, and both countries are majority Shia, while they hold the 1st and 2nd largest Shia adherents by population percentages in the world. As with almost their entire history, which is fully intertwined, the history of Shi'ism as the majority religion is rooted from the exact same moment in history, dating back to the Safavid era.〔(The Caspian: politics, energy and security, By Shirin Akiner, pg.158 )〕 Representing two of only four Shia majority countries in the world, Azerbaijan and Iran share religious ties and a common border. Far more ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran (approximately 15-20 million) than in the Republic of Azerbaijan itself (approximately nine million), a result of the irrevocable forced cession by Qajar Iran of the territory that nowadays comprises Azerbaijan Republic to Imperial Russia in the course of the 19th century. Although Azerbaijan and Iran share strong historical and cultural connections, the countries are not natural allies. According to Alex Vatanka at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., “Ahmadinejad’s statement blatantly misrepresented the current state of affairs; today, it is not historical affinity but rather intense suspicion and rivalry that shape ties between Baku and Tehran. The same month Ahmadinejad made the statement, a court in Baku gave lengthy prison sentences to 22 Azerbaijanis charged with spying for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and plotting to carry out attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets in Azerbaijan.” 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Azerbaijan–Iran relations」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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