Azerbaijan, The Shiite Muslim Nation with Close Ties to Israel

Azerbaijan, a Shia Muslim nation bordering Iran, maintains strong ties with Israel, sharing intelligence, energy deals, and military cooperation—positioning itself as a strategic partner and key player in the region.

We often hear more about Shia Muslims in the context of being the majority in Iran and their focus on destroying Israel. One Shia Muslim country, however, wants to stand with Israel and other countries seen as enemies of Iran. 

Azerbaijan sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, strategically positioned next to Iran, Turkey and Russia. It aligned with Israel after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1992.

“And since that time, Azerbaijan is (an) independent state which immediately established diplomatic relations with the State of Israel,” said Professor Ze’ev Khanin, heads the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies of Bar Ilan University.

The Jewish community has felt at home there for generations and six years ago, CBN News visited the country for a closer look.  

Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan.  Located on the Caspian sea, the country is one of the world’s major oil producers and Baku is the country’s economic center. 

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar recently met with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov who was visiting Israel.

“Azerbaijan is a friendly country to Israel. Our relations are strategic for both sides and are constantly progressing,” Sa’ar wrote on “X”. We discussed strengthening the economic and energy ties between our countries….We will continue developing this important relationship!”

The two countries signed a deal for natural gas exploration off Israel’s Mediterranean coast. In 2023, Israel was Azerbaijan’s sixth largest oil buyer.

“On one hand, Azerbaijan supplies about 60% of oil resources, which Israel needs. Despite of the fact that, this pipeline is going through Georgia and then…through Turkey, on the one hand, Azerbaijan has a very good relations with Israel (and a) strategic partnership,” Khanin told CBN News.

Khanin says a priority of Azerbaijani president Ilan Aliyev is to smooth out troubled relations between Israel and Turkey.  When Turkish President Recep Erdogan condemned Israel, Azerbaijan sent an envoy to cool him down.

“He came to explain, to Mr. Erdogan, that if he is interested that Turkey will be a hub for sending natural resources, energy, oil and gas to Europe, they have to, relax and climb down a little bit from this ladder from the staircase of anti-Israeli rhetorics,” Khanin explained.

Khanin adds that Azerbaijan wants to become a major player in the region.

“Azerbaijan is interested and playing, quite (a) significant role in that cluster from (the) eastern Mediterranean to the Caucasus and little bit also the central Asia,” he said.

According to Khanin, the country keeps its relationship with Israel under the radar. Even so Azerbaijan buys Israeli military equipment and shares intelligence on Iran.

“For Azerbaijan, Israel is a key element for (the) establishment of (an) anti-Iranian bloc, in order to preserve its own security,” he said.

Khanin says the US should be more interested in those ties too.

“On one hand, I think in Washington, they understand the role of Azerbaijan, what the country is. On the other hand, many subjects believe that Washington doesn't appreciate cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan enough.”

With the Oslo Peace Accords no longer effective, Khanin says President Trump is looking to grow a new Middle East alliance.

“Adding, of new countries to Abrahamic Accords, it's also adding, new forces, new subjects to what they call, Middle Eastern NATO,” he explained.

And that would likely include more countries.

“Azerbaijan is the first in line,” he says.

Khanin says that its relations with Israel should be enough to encourage the US that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner.