Eurasianet

Turkmenistan is busily engaging with neighbors. Plus: Dancing diplomats and the president’s nephew liquidates a dodgy scheme after journalists exposed him. Our weekly briefing.

As hopes for an Afghanistan gas pipeline fade again, there is more upbeat news to the west.

The deal was presented by both Baku and Tehran as proof that their recent political crisis had been overcome.

The announced deals could be significant, and come shortly after the two sides patched up a period of serious political tensions. But many details remain unclear.

The short-term crisis between the two neighbors has dissipated. But in the longer term, relations have gotten a lot more complicated.

Officials in Karabakh are remaining tight-lipped about Iranian fuel imports, and say that Baku is using the issue as a pretext to drive out the region’s Armenian population.

Arbitrary collective punishment, breadlines before dawn, and a resurgence of diplomacy. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan released two truck drivers whose arrest sparked the tensions, while Iran agreed to forbid trucks from entering Karabakh from now on.

The two foreign ministers also discussed how to resolve transportation issues that have become complicated by the new post-war order in southern Armenia.

The most explosive claim of Tehran’s “treachery”: that Iranian forces briefly invaded Azerbaijan during last year’s war.

The two adversaries have been choosing not to use one another’s air space. Now Armenians are asking why their government is allowing Azerbaijani overflights.

Both sides are engaging in tit-for-tat retaliations, and Azerbaijanis are fighting back in the face of Iranian rhetorical aggression.

There is still no clear explanation for the unprecedented chest-thumping.

Iran has criticized Azerbaijan’s detentions of Iranian drivers supplying Armenia. Baku has been quieter.

In recent years the Caucasus country has become a magnet for Iranian students, business owners, and dissidents. But now many report they’re not being allowed to enter.

Ashgabat has pursued a notably distinct line in its engagements with the Taliban. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Iran and Georgia considered as alternatives.

Beneath the veneer of optimism in Iran, there is suspicion about China’s reliability as a partner.

The remarks earned the country’s senior Islamic official a rebuke from a senior adviser to Turkey’s president and a smear campaign in Azerbaijani pro-government media.

Iranians have been flooding into Armenia to get COVID vaccines, causing Tehran to complain and Yerevan to tighten the rules.

The election of a hardliner could augur a more security-oriented approach by Tehran toward Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The roads for sea access seem to run through China.

Iran stands to be one of the winners of the new regional transportation map.

Another prestigious Western journal publishes the author without declaring her conflicts of interest.

Tehran’s foreign minister has made a tour of the region, where Russia and Turkey have become the dominant outside powers since the autumn war, leaving little room for Iran.