The Voice of Mirza Xazar

The incident in the Caspian Sea on July 23 is an another sign of existing and future conflicts between the five Caspian littoral states over offshore oil fields in the region. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over ownership of some oil fields is well known to the public. Turkmenistan claims ownership of two oil fields which Azerbaijan has included in its oil exploitation program. Ashgabat even threatened to appeal to an international arbitration court to solve the dispute in its favor. But the 23 July incident when an Iranian gunship and a military aircraft threatened two oil exploration ships belonging to Azerbaijan is more serious than the dispute between Baku and Ashgabat. It is significant that the incident occured just two days after the visit of Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of the High Council for National Security of Iran, to Baku and his meetings with Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliev.

What happened during these meetings is still unclear, but Hassan Rouhani made it clear in the presence of the British Ambassador to Azerbaijan by saying "Iran will not permit foreign companies to launch any oil and gas activities within its 20 percent control share over the sea."

The 23 July incident occured in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The Azerbaijani authorities promptly protested the Iranian actions, which is understandable. The Azerbaijani leadership realizes the danger of such incidents not only for Azerbaijan's souvereignty over parts of Caspian sea. The main concern for official Baku is the potential danger of Iranian actions for Azerbaijan's relationship with international oil companies.

The British oil giant BP said it was operating the survey vessels and said it has suspended exploration work in that area of the sea around its Araz-Alov-Sharg oil concession. Furthermore, BP made it clear that the company does not like to be involved and the governments should solve problems between states. This statement might be discouraging for official Baku, of course. It is not clear if the states behind the oil companies, such as the United States and Great Britain, would like to become involved in this dispute or not, but it is obvious that Azerbaijani leadership would like very much for this to happen.

Nevertheless, the Azeri state news agency reported that Prime Minister Artur Rasizade had sent a letter of protest to the Iranian ambassador in Azerbaijan over the 23 July incident. And observers believe Heydar Aliev's upcoming visit to Iran is in jeopardy over the incident in the Caspian Sea.

As for Iran, it is not clear what official Tehran hoped to gain from this incident. Relations between Azerbaijan and Islamic Republic of Iran have been tense for the last several years. Iran opposed agreements signed between Azerbaijan and Western oil companies on the exploration of Caspian oil fields. At the same time, Iran still insists that the status of the Caspian Sea should be resolved first, making demands on Azerbaijani sector of Caspian sea. The Azerbaijani government rejects the Iranian position. On the other hand, the Iranian government is not pleased with the Western-oriented foreign policy pursued by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan in turn accuses Iran of maintaining economic and political relations with Armenia, which is in conflict with Azerbaijan.

Another "hot" point in relations between two countries is, of course, the problem of around 20-30 million Azerbaijanis living on their historical land in Iran. Government newspapers in Tehran accused the Azerbaijan Republic of stirring up nationalist sentiments among the ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran. The Azerbaijani government press in turn accused Iran of exporting the "Iranian model of political Islam" to several regions of Azerbaijan in order to establish its influence and create an Islamic regime here.

The incident on July 23 has complicated the already tense relations between the two countries. The incident has also complicated Azerbaijan's desire to explore the huge oil reserves of its sector in the Caspian Sea. And the incident has added a new dimension to the Caspian quarrel: a military one. An RFE/RL correspondent in Southern Azerbaijan reported that an Iranian military helicopter violated Azerbaijan's air space on 24 July. That report has not yet been confirmed, however. Is this another "incident" to put pressure on Azerbaijani government, or an accident? The concern created by the incident is growing.

(Mirza Khazar)

Azerbaijan Report: July 24, 2001 (RFE/RL)

http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1340883.html