Iran Adapts to Shifting Tides in South Caucasus

Iran is finding it increasingly challenging to maintain its balanced approach in the Caucasus. Fresh developments keep jiggling Tehran’s diplomatic scales. Two major developments in recent years – Azerbaijan’s reconquest of Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine – created new diplomatic openings for Iran. The changed geopolitical environment has enabled Iran and Azerbaijan to smooth over what for much of the post-Soviet period had been a prickly relationship. At the same time, Iran’s traditionally…