Israel considers Azerbaijan as a partner, which is able to contain Iran, Director of the British Independent Conflict Research & Analysis (ICRA) Center, Christopher Langton, told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

Touching on the question as to whether the cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan can be called “strategic alliance,” considering the sale of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan, the analyst said that Israel has chosen Azerbaijan as an ally in the region for three main reasons.

“[First of all, as] A partner to help contain Iran which has a complex relationship with Baku in part due to the Azeri ethnic group in Iran which is seen internally as a possible threat to stability; [secondly] in part due to economic considerations surrounding energy such as a ready source of oil product,” Langton noted. According to the British expert, the weapons deal is possibly a ‘quid pro quo’ and is largely defensive in nature.

And the third reason why Israel is developing cooperation with Azerbaijan is that the latter is a moderate Islamic state that allows Tel Aviv to engage with the worldwide Islamic community in a way that is not possible in its own region, Langton added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to visit Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in October.