Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to depart next Wednesday for a planned visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, where he will meet with President Ilham Aliyev and remain for five days, including the weekend.
The trip comes just 10 days after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited the country, against the backdrop of renewed nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.
Netanyahu will be joined in Baku by his wife Sara, at the invitation of President Aliyev. The visit will be funded by the Azeri government. The prime minister previously visited Azerbaijan in 2016. During his upcoming talks with Aliyev, Netanyahu is expected to discuss Turkey’s presence in Syria and the recent Israeli-Turkish dialogue hosted in Baku, aimed at avoiding clashes on Syrian soil. Azerbaijan has effectively positioned itself as a mediator working to stabilize regional tensions, particularly following a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Aliyev has also recently met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syria’s new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa—better known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani—further cementing his role as a major diplomatic player in the region. Officials in both Israel and the U.S. view Aliyev as a rare figure capable of bridging divides among key regional actors.
Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran, and the two countries have long had strained relations. Contributing factors include Tehran’s treatment of its large Azeri minority in northwestern Iran, its support for Armenia—Azerbaijan’s bitter rival—and the strategic partnership between Israel and Azerbaijan, which includes extensive Israeli arms sales to Baku.
In early 2023, Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran following an incident it labeled a terrorist attack, in which the head of the embassy’s security detail was killed and two guards were injured. Iran claimed the attacker was motivated by “personal and family issues.” Amid the diplomatic fallout, both countries expelled each other’s diplomats. After months of negotiations aimed at deescalating tensions, Azerbaijan reopened its embassy in Iran in July of last year.
Itamar Eichner
