South Caucasus

Iranian Azarbaijan and the southern Caucasus have relatively good environmental conditions for the formation of ancient settlements. These include the Lake of Urmia and the coasts of Aras in northwestern Iran and the basins of the Kora River, Mill-Moghan (mountainous areas) in the South Caucasus. The archaeological evidences and recent researches in the two geographical areas provide commonalities and cultural similarities of the period. The main purpose of this article is to introduce traditions of pottery and sites and determine the chronological sequence in the study areas. In order to achieve cultural interactions in the studied geographical area in the Chalcolithic period, the following questions are proposed: What is the status of chronological sequence in the two cultural domains? The main hypothesis in this regard is the existence of chronology is almost identical in the two geographical areas. How do the settlement layers and the sequence of habitation from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period in ancient sites show the issue of cultural continuity and transmission? The present writing is done by descriptive-analytical method. As a final result, it can be said that similarities and differences of archaeological data, including the features of pottery, architectural structure, burial etc. point out that by studying areas such as Dalma Tepe, Jolfa’s Kul Tepe, Khoy’s Dava Göz, etc. in Northwestern Iran and Leila Tepesi, Qalayeri, Poylu Tepe, etc in the South Caucasus region have been obtained and in terms of chronology, the millennium BC includes 5000 BC to 3700-3600 BC. 

In recent years, stability in the security environment of Central Asia and the Caucasus has consistent-ly faced increasing complexities and challenges. Nationalistic tendencies in this region, presence of crises, emergence of internal challenges, weaknesses in nation-building, and the entry of foreign powers have added complexity to the region's security environment. Considering the competition of regional and trans-regional powers and their pursuit of interests in the South Caucasus region, the events in Karabakh in 2020 will not be the last one in this region. This region is always prone to events and crises. Iran must play a role in resolving conflicts in the South Caucasus region by main-taining a neutral yet more active policy than in the past. By establishing an independent mechanism, Iran can pursue its national interests in this region by leveraging existing opportunities. This qualita-tive research article uses an explanatory method to evaluate Iran's foreign policy in the face of region-al crises (such as the Karabakh war) based on the realism model of Morgenthau. It examines Iran's foreign policy approach to recent conflicts in the region and analyzes the role of influential regional and international factors, as well as geopolitical and geostrategic factors, shaping Iran's foreign poli-cy.