The Dynamics You Aren’t Watching: Iran’s Campaign Across Its Peripheries

(The Soufan Center) During the course of the Iran War, Iran reportedly targeted an Azerbaijani enclave and the Incirlik Air Base in Türkiye, while Hezbollah allegedly targeted a British base in Cyprus. Attacks across Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Cyprus are underpinned by a multitude of ethnic and regional dynamics driving Iran’s broader strategic goals. Iran likely targeted Azerbaijan, and possibly Cyprus, to damage Israeli interests and signal the risks of close alignment, as it has done with U.S. partners in the Gulf. Iran will likely continue to exploit peripheral dynamics to open multiple fronts of conflict for its adversaries, distract potential key players with myopic crises, and place pressure on energy-rich regions. – The Dynamics You Aren’t Watching: Iran’s Campaign Across Its Peripheries – The Soufan Center