Eurasianet

An unusual constellation of outside players taking shape.

The Azerbaijani government has once again urged its citizens not to travel to Iran and is trying to secure contact with the student.

Ahmad Obali, a prominent proponent of Azerbaijani nationalism in Iran and virulent critic of the Islamic Republic, refused to speak about who might have attacked him.

The emerging format connects Armenia with two of the countries that have risen in importance for Yerevan as it seeks new sources of security.

Local rights activists say hundreds of religious Shias have been arrested in recent weeks as pro-government media report on the arrests of "spies" and "traitors" working for neighboring Iran.

Six people, allegedly with ties to Iran, were detained as suspects in the shooting of MP Fazil Mustafa.

His outspoken criticism of Iran, and the timing coinciding with the opening of Azerbaijan's embassy in Israel led some fellow MPs to point the finger at Tehran.

Azerbaijan sent two notes of protest in the past week to its southern neighbor, with whom relations have been steadily deteriorating.

Turkmenistan is looking to Gazprom to deliver new customers, at the risk of further eroding its independence. Our weekly briefing.

There is a widespread belief in Baku that the attack may have been connected to Azerbaijan’s growing relationship with Israel.

It is so cold that Turkmenistan has suspended gas exports to Uzbekistan, Iran and even its most important customer, China. Our weekly briefing.

The drills included a crossing of the river that forms the Azerbaijan-Iran border, mirroring the threat that Iran’s armed forces had made weeks earlier.

Questioning the territorial integrity of the neighboring country, once a taboo topic, is increasingly entering official discourse both in Baku and Tehran.

The arrests come as tension between Baku and Tehran has been reaching a peak.

Tehran appears alarmed both by Azerbaijan’s saber-rattling against Armenia and by a new EU monitoring mission to Armenia’s border with Iran.