The Role of Iranian Azeris, Armenians and Georgians in Iran's Economic Relations with the Countries of the South Caucasus

Abstract

This contribution examines Iran’s economic relations with the South Caucasus through the (admittedly marginal) roles of Iranian Azeris, Armenians and Georgians. In quantitative terms, such as the movement of goods, economic interdependency between Iran and the South Caucasus is rather low and the ties are weak. Because the prevailing understanding of nationality in Iran is primarily of a civic nature, and not least due to their low numbers, these Iranian minority populations do not form the strong links to the Caucasus that one might expect.