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Originally Posted by TripolySunni  Isn't Azerbeijan supposed to be a Muslim Shiite Country? How come Iran is siding with Armenia and israel is siding with Azerbaijan? |
yes, the population of Azerbeijan is 95 % muslim, of which 85% are Shiite, the rest Sunni. However, the northern region of Iran (bordering on Azerbeijan)is populated by ethnic Azeris, who have cessationist aspirations and in fact want to be part of Azerbeijan. At the same time, Azerbeijani hardliners consider northern Iran as historically part of Azerbeijan. Therefor there a potential conflict, though now kept in check. It is believed that there are some 10 to 15 mil iranians of azeri origins in Iran, most of them in the northern provinces. So all these explain why Armenia and Iran have good relations (since Armenia and Azerbeijan are in conflict regarding Nagorno Karabakh), and it also explains why the US is so much interested in positioning a military base in Azerbeijan!! This also explaind why Israel is new best friends with Azerbeijan.
For the record, Azerbeijan, as a state, did not exist before 1920's.