Ethnicity and National Identity in the Iran-Azerbaijan Territorial Dispute

In this paper, I will argue that disputes over history and contemporary boundaries of ethnicity in Iran are in response to the failure of the post-1979 state to build a cohesive national identity based on religion, the increasing influence of ethnicity in Iranian political discourse since the 1990s and a fear that neighbouring states will mobilise minorities against the state. In particular, I will examine the language of contest between politicians from Iran and Azerbaijan over the “ethnic Azeri” issue. Iran and Azerbaijan have a difficult relationship in large part due to their adversarial strategic alliances. This situation has been further complicated by occasional claims by Azerbaijani leaders over Iranian territory, which they term “southern Azerbaijan”. In recent years, elements within the Iranian government have sought to counter these claims by dismissing the idea of a separate Azeri identity and claiming that Azerbaijan is simply a section of Iran colonised by Russia. Both claims have implicit statements about territorial boundaries and national legitimacy. This debate occurs within the midst of efforts by the Iranian state to separate language from ethnicity, and the promotion of the idea that all Iranians are of the one Iranian ethnicity even if they speak different languages.