Eurasianet

Yerevan has been trying to resist pressure from Washington to cut ties with its southern neighbor. But Armenia's private banks have been making it more difficult to do business.

The Pentagon program would give more than $100 million to help Baku improve its maritime security against threats from Tehran.

Tehran is also nearing a deal on getting more money out of a hydropower plant it built some years ago.

The foreign minister snubbed the Saudis for a trip to Iran.

The deal would reduce the Caucasus’s reliance on Russian gas but could incur the ire of both Moscow and Washington.

Washington is increasingly assertive in its criticism of Armenia’s ties with Russia and Iran, but it’s not clear whether it has the clout to do anything about Yerevan’s allies.

Azerbaijan is in the most complicated position, as it has plans to jointly develop shared oil and gas fields with Iran.

Iran's embassy complained that tourists in headscarves were "mistreated" at the airport in Tbilisi.

The agreement would end a dispute that has festered since the Soviet Union's collapse.

Armenia has been competing with neighbor and foe Azerbaijan for Iran's transit northward into the former Soviet Union.

Iran has been a fairly marginal player in the South Caucasus, but both Armenia and Azerbaijan are competing to draw it into the region.

The deals would give Ashgabat the option to sell gas to Armenia, Azerbaijan or even further afield.

The Damavand is Iran's most powerful ship on the Caspian, and has been at the center of Iran's growing naval diplomacy on the sea.

“Given the deep disagreements between the member states over the demarcation issue, it seems there will be no deal in the near future.”

Is Tajik a dialect of Persian? Or a language in its own right?

The Iranian heavy-metal band Masters of Persia left Iran in 2011 in search of a place amenable to their music and style.