Yorktown Institute: Iran uses propaganda to frame war with Israel as a battle against the U.S., Azerbaijan, and Turkey

Published: 2025-06-18 10:21

"Little Israel could bring the Islamic Republic to its knees in such a short span of time," writes Joseph Epstein, Director of the Turan Research Center and a research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, in an article for the U.S.-based think tank, the Yorktown Institute.

According to Epstein, in an effort to salvage its image, "Tehran’s propaganda machine has created an imaginary ring of fire around Iran by claiming that it is fighting not just Israel but a large coalition, which includes the United States, Azerbaijan and Turkey."

The article quotes Iranian political analyst Ehsan Movahedian as saying that Israel "would not last a week without the support of the United States, Europe, Turkey and Baku... If Turkey and Baku do not export oil to Israel, it cannot survive.”

Epstein also notes that Iranian state media have alleged that Azerbaijan, Qatar, and Jordan helped shoot down Iranian attacks on Israel. Additionally, "Iran’s information apparatus has accused Israeli drones of being launched from Azerbaijan."

"The easiest target for Iranian pundits has been Azerbaijan and its President Ilham Aliyev, who has enjoyed warm bilateral relations with Israel since he assumed power in 2003. For years, Tehran has tried to overthrow his secular government by sponsoring a proxy force to create a Shiite rebellion. In recent months, Iran and Azerbaijan have calmed tensions, however Tehran’s recent accusations are likely to enflame them again. By blaming Baku, Iran has proven again that it cannot accept the existence of Azerbaijan as a secular Shiite-majority nation and ethnic homeland for Iran’s largest minority on its border," the article notes.

By Azerbaijani-Israeli Alliance Global News