ABSTRACT
The governments of Azerbaijan and Iran have worked to develop a modus vivendi since 2005, in spite of all the existing and potential problems. A flurry of bilateral visits began to take place after Iranian president Khatami visited Baku in August 2004 a visit that led to the end to the long-standing Iranian opposition to establishment of an Azerbaijani consulate in Tabriz. Ilham Aliyev then visited Tehran in January 2005 to sign nine agreements on various aspects of bilateral relations. In December of the same year, Aliyev and new Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated construction of pipelines that would make the provision of natural gas to Nakhichevan possible by means of a gas-swapping arrangement between their two countries. The ideal solution for Baku would be a peaceful and democratic development in Iran that would lead to Iranian Azerbaijan existing harmoniously in an arrangement within Iran's borders, while interacting freely and to mutual benefit with the Republic of Azerbaijan.
