Quiet cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan appears evident as violence spirals between Israel and Iran, creating chaos and forcing shifts in regional air corridors.   The former Caucasus combatants now appear to be cooperating on a new frontier: airspace.  Reports have surfaced that flights carrying Armenian and Azerbaijani citizens have conducted emergency landings in the opposing country, due to the conflict playing out in Iranian airspace. Armenia’s National Security Service has said that government bodies are now “carrying out consistent work over the matter.”

Additionally, Armenian and Azerbaijani flights now appearing to be re-routed through the airspace of one another’s countries. Multiple flights between Baku and Nakhichevan appear to be flying through Armenian airspace. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in long-running negotiations seeking to formally end the long-standing conflict between the two countries. While recent months have seen stagnation in this process, the apparent cooperation over airspace seems to hint at the possibility of greater cooperation, as the two countries face the prospect of increased instability within their shared southern neighbor.

Since the outbreak of war, following Israel’s June 12 bombing campaigns of Iranian military and nuclear facilities, residents of Tehran are fleeing the capital city, while many Iranians move to exit the country entirely. Armenia and Azerbaijan, two of Iran’s northern neighbors, share the meaningful implications of this exodus, as war threatens to create a broader refugee crisis.  While both Caucasus countries have relatively small populations, for Azerbaijan this could have major consequences, with 10 to 20 million ethnic-Azeris living in northwestern Iran who might seek to flee the war.