Investigating the Factors of Convergence and Divergence between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Republic of Azerbaijan has always been of interest to international actors due to its geopolitical and geostrategic conditions, and consequently, its internal and external developments at various levels have affected the security environment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Accordingly, examining the current situation in order to make the right political decisions to confront the regional policies of the Republic of Azerbaijan is considered a necessity for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The present article seeks to answer the question that “in what areas Iran and Azerbaijan have convergence and in what areas they have divergence in the current period?” The hypothesis of this study is that having a correct relationship with the Republic of Azerbaijan depends on recognizing the factors of regional convergence and divergence. The research method is descriptive-analytical and the data were collected using the facilities and resources of libraries and the Internet. The results of this study indicate that there is a lot of ups and downs in relations between the two countries in recent years and that most of the existing obstacles, differences and problems are related to the nature of the political system of the two countries and their competition in the framework of regional and international systems, and if each of the parties wants to make good use of the existing conditions, it is necessary to have a correct understanding of the other party's situation and to remove obstacles and problems.