Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 20 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Turkey and Azerbaijan will keep balanced position on Iran despite U.S. attempts to tighten it, experts believe.
"There are circumstances which the U.S. will have to take into account, waiting for Baku's and Ankara's support in pressuring Iran. Azerbaijan and Turkey will make decisions proceeding from their own interests and geographic positions," Rasim Musabayov, an Azerbaijani expert, told Trend.
It is necessary to develop common measures to protect the financial system of Azerbaijan from the threat posed by Iran, to help to protect the reputation of the financial sector and attract investments to the republic, the U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said at a press conference in Baku this week.
"It was repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan is an important strategic partner of the United States. It is necessary to bring together the positions of the United States and Azerbaijan on Iran's nuclear program proceeding from this," Levey said.
The U.S. and other Western countries accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons for military purposes under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying that its nuclear program is aimed solely at meeting the country's electricity needs. The U.N. Security Council adopted six resolutions in connection with the suspension of Iran's nuclear program.
The UN Security Council adopted another resolution, which provides for tougher sanctions against Tehran in connection with its refusal to cease its uranium enrichment June 9, 2010. This is the fourth resolution, adopted by the Security Council because of Tehran's unwillingness to comply with international requirements concerning the clarification of several questions of the world community over the Iranian nuclear program, including the existence of a military component.
Experts believe that the U.S. attempts to negotiate with Azerbaijan and Turkey to change the position towards Iran cannot have an effect upon the decision of these countries' leaderships.
"For the relations with the U.S., Turkey will not change its position on Iran, and as a result of which relations between Ankara and Washington will reach a deadlock even more," the Turkish expert Mustafa Ozcan told Trend over telephone from Ankara.
According to Ozcan, besides the Turkish-U.S. relations, the relations with Iran and Russia play a great role for Turkey. Therefore, Turkey's position on Iran will remain balanced despite the U.S. wishes, experts believe.
"But all this doesn't mean that Turkey should support Iran in all, as it can hit boomerang on Turkey and foreign policy can really suffer," Ozcan said. "Turkey should pursue a balanced policy towards Iran, as Azerbaijan pursues."
According to the authors of the Wall Street Journal Jay Solomon and Marc Champion, Stuart Levey's visit to Turkey and Azerbaijan was an attempt to reduce the trade flows between Tehran and its nearest neighbors.
"In recent months, Turkey has become perhaps the weakest link in the growing international campaign to prevent the development of Iran's nuclear program," the publication says.
Turkey did not support the latest round of sanctions on Iran
In addition, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged in September to triple trade turnover between Turkey and Iran within the next five years, after which Turkey has established preferential trade relations with Tehran.
According to Trend Expert Council's member Musabeyov, the circumstances that Ankara and Baku will not support the West's tough measures against Iran, are conditioned by the geographical proximity of Turkey and Azerbaijan with Iran, through which these countries' communication passes.
"Azerbaijan and Turkey cannot blindly join the American tough policy on Iran. Of course, both countries will abide by restrictions under the UN sanctions, but they are unlikely to do anything beyond it, like the EU, U.S. and Japan," he said.
According to Musabeyov, the U.S. has the tools of pressure, including financial assistance, but they should use this tool towards Armenia, whose relations with Iran should cause more suspicion than Tehran's relations with Baku and Ankara, given the Armenian specialists on nuclear technology.
One should not exaggerate Turkey's influence on the conflict, given the internal disunity in the country, Musabeyov added.
"The closer and more coordinated response Baku and Ankara will have, the lower risk the U.S.' displeasure will cause," he said.
According to the Iranian expert Bahram Amirakhmadian, the Caucasus region is very important for the United States from a geopolitical point of view.
"It is economically very important region for the U.S. and Europe and at the same time is a buffer zone between Iran and America. Mainly through this region the U.S. can influence Iran and Russia", Amirakhmadian, an expert on Russia and Central Asia at the Tehran University, told Trend over telephone from Tehran.
However, he believes that if the U.S. intensifies pressure on Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan will not join the additional U.S sanctions.
"The Turkish and Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly stated that they are against additional sanctions, which are not included in the round of the UN sanctions," he said.
R.Hafizoglu, T.Jafarov contributed to the article.