My expert review for Russian service of “Voice of America” regarding the exacerbation of the Karabakh conflict.
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My expert review for Russian service of “Voice of America” regarding the exacerbation of the Karabakh conflict.
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Journalists and analysts have been watching Iran’s expansionist policy in the Greater Middle East, for extended periods of time.
However, the Iranian expansion is active not only in the offline sphere but also in the online cyberspace arena. The Iranian intelligence services (inspired by their Russian counterparts) actively set up and develop their online media, through which they spread Iranian propaganda and misinformation.
For example, the investigation of Reuters revealed 70 websites on 16 languages, covering 15 countries. All these “independent media outlets” are developed and controlled by Iran.
Most of these websites started to operate in 2012. I, on several occasions, have written that information and ideological wars, as well as psychological operations (during which the Iranians use a network of fake media outlets), are a part of Iran’s global strategy of Hybrid War.
Using their fake news websites, the Iranians wage information war and propaganda against the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Individuals and separate organizations sometimes become their targets as well. Moreover, these websites are used to promote the “Iranian Shiism” and glorify the Iranian Mullocracy.
The Iranian propagandist media network works actively in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. Alongside with the Iranian recruits and IRGC members, the Iranian websites try to influence the population and public opinion in these countries.
However, the Iranian propagandists focus not only on Southern and Western directions; their Northern neighbors are also of particular interest, for example, Azerbaijan, which is situated on the Northern borders of Iran. Taking into account 30 million Azerbaijanis living in Iran (the second largest ethnic group after Persians), deprived of their fundamental rights, secular independent Azerbaijan at the borders is seen as a threat for the Iranian regime.
Since the 1990s, Iran has been trying to create a caste of religious people in Azerbaijan, loyal to the regime. It is nearly impossible to create such a caste without pro-Iranian media outlets.
For almost 25 years, Azerbaijan’s intelligence services have been confronting the Iranian efforts to create the Fifth Column in the country. Many Iranian agents, including a group of terrorists, intending to organize a terrorist attack against the Embassy of Israel in Baku (2006), or another group, planning terrorist attacks during Eurovision in Baku (2012), have been located and arrested, during this time. Azerbaijan and its secular state organization are often subjected to harassment by the Iranian propaganda and Mullocracy.
During the last 5-7 years, the Iranian propaganda has created a number of websites in Azerbaijani language; most of them are blocked in Azerbaijan. However, some of them were working inside the country. On June 12, Polad Aslanov, an Azerbaijani citizen, was detained by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, while attempting to cross the border with Iran. He is suspected of collaborating with the Iranian intelligence services, receiving money from them and inducing several Azerbaijani journalists to cooperate with the Iranian intelligence services. It is noteworthy that Aslanov is a chief-editor of two little-known information websites, standing out for their sympathy for Iran.
On his Facebook account, there are photos from his multiple visits to Iran, even photos from meetings with Iranian religious figures. So Aslanov did not hide his particular relevance to Iran. Ironically, the name of his father is Israil, but it seems irony went right over his head since their motto is Death to Israel. I assume, we and other countries that are of interest for Iran, have many other arrests and revelations ahead.
Not long before the presidential election, in late May 2019, I participated in a Scientific Conference in Nursultan (Former Astana), devoted to transition of power. Read More
Seminar on “Girls’ Education,” organized by Advanced Education, (Advanced Education is an affiliated company of Hajizade Group) took place on May 18 in Baku.Read More
Ali Hajizade, C.E.O of Hajizade Group, participated in the live broadcast on Azerbaijani public television. Mr. Hajizade shared his view and experience of Public Relations.
On 30 March a seminar on “Public Relations” was held in Baku. Many representatives of this industry, as well as journalists, public persons, politicians, and Parliament members, took part in the event.
The seminar was organized by Advanced Education Company, which is an affiliated company of Hajizade Group, specializing in education.
The Shia Crescent is a term which enriched researchers and journalists’ vocabulary, thanks to the King of Jordan Abdullah II.
The Shia Crescent refers to countries and territories populated by Shiites or which have significant Shiite communities.
It is no secret that in its global strategy of a hybrid war, the Iranian regime, in most cases, relies on the Shiite population and Shiite communities from the Middle East to Africa and South America.
There are three countries populated predominantly by Muslim-Shiites – Iran, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan. The Iranian regime, which recruits Pakistani and Afghan Shiites for the war in Syria and uses Shiite communities in South America to organize drug trafficking could not ignore the neighboring countries with predominantly Shiite population. One of such countries is Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan shares borders with Iran on the North side. Azerbaijan is the former Soviet Republic which regained its independence in 1991. Although more than 90% of Azerbaijan’s population is Muslims, predominantly Shiites, Azerbaijan is a secular country and a member of the Council of Europe and OSCE.
Azerbaijan became the first democratic republic in the Muslim world in 1918, and at the same time, women gained the right to vote. For example, in Turkey women gained the right to vote in 1926, in 1945 in France and 1971 in Switzerland at the federal level.
All these facts, of course, annoy the Iranian clerical regime. Mullocracy and the Iranian elite have plans for Azerbaijan, in a bad way. From one side, Azerbaijan is a small country, rich in oil and gas, with a predominantly Shiite population. From another side, there are more Azerbaijanis in Iran, on the territory often called South Azerbaijan, than in independent Azerbaijan. Between 25 and 30 million people, by various estimations. Independent Azerbaijan at the border andsystematic repressions and offense by the Iranian regime against Azerbaijanis living in Iran, deprivation of fundamental rights, obviously, led to separatist considerations. That is why the weakening of Azerbaijan, its isolation and destabilization is one of the main objectives of the Iranian mullocracy. Since 1991, the Iranian authorities have been trying to get their agents of influence inside the country, stir up sectarian hatred among citizens, establish groups in the Azerbaijani society, loyal to Iran and its regime.
Despite this, Azerbaijan remains the land of tolerance and, in a way, multiculturalism.
Azerbaijan is situated in a very sensitive region, where the interests of many world and region geopolitical players intertwine. Two of the five neighbors of Azerbaijan are under the international sanctions due to their aggressive policy and support of terrorism (Russia and Iran). Since 1991, Azerbaijan has been at war with another neighbor (Armenia).
Iranian-controlled Hezbollah was even trying to organize terrorist attacks in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
However, the consequent and pre-emptive activity of the Azerbaijani authorities, in particular, intelligence services, could prevent the activities of the Iranian networks. The efforts of the Iranian propaganda machine were significantly limited and pro-Iranian groups, which emerged in the country in the 1990s, were marginalized.
In large parts of the Azerbaijani society, including intellectuals, there is deep aversion and mistrust towards the Iranian mullahs. It is the result of historical processes, as well as the secular nature of the Azerbaijani society. That is why it is harder for Iran to do what they do in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. As some Arab authors write, Iran failed with Azerbaijani Shiites. Unlike certain Arab countries, in which Iran could achieve success, Azerbaijan has a stable Government, and the national identity of many citizens is at a high level. This factor, of course, played a significant role.
However, that does not mean that Iran has given up its plan “to turn Azerbaijan into Iraq.” Iran continues its subversive activities, but in a more concealed form, having changed its tactics and expectations.
