Commenting on Iran’s military drills on the border with Azerbaijan, Markov said that a way out of some conflict situations is possible either by a hard or a soft option.

“It seems to me that a soft, diplomatic way out of the tension between Azerbaijan and Iran is more preferable. Tehran is, of course, worried that a significant part of Iran is populated by Azerbaijanis and they may demand reunification with their historical homeland – present-day Azerbaijan. There are such fears, but they are not excessive,” he said.

Markov said the fact is that in Iran there is a struggle of different identities, there is an Azerbaijani identity, which is most likely suppressed and is potentially latent.

“But there is also a common Iranian identity, there is also a Persian identity. It should be added that in Iran, the key identity is the Islamic, Shiite identity, which is formed within the framework of a fairly very rigid ideological political regime,” the political scientist added.

Markov said he thinks that the Iranian leadership has some concerns about the possible behavior of ethnic Azerbaijanis - citizens of Iran in the event of a conflict between Tehran and Baku.

“But this concern is not very big, because they believe that collectively, the Islamic identity, and the Shia identity, and the Iranian-civil identity, as well as the Persian-civilized identity, will be dominant. Unfortunately, some concern of the Iranian authorities may lead to the suppression of Azerbaijani identity in Iran. This policy has been going on for many decades. Of course, it would be right to give an opportunity to ethnic Azerbaijanis on the territory of Iran to develop their language and develop their original culture,” he added.

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