wants to keep their country weak because a stronger, post-conflict Azerbaijan would be in a position to more forcefully defend the millions of ethnic Azeris living in Iran. Conspiracy theories also abound that Tehran, like Moscow, prefers to cause trouble and provoke Armenia into re-igniting the conflict because a volatile Caucasus would scare off Western investors and thus Western governments (whose interest in the region is seen as being largely economic). Hostility has only intensified after the latest dispute with Iran over Caspian Sea exploration rights--a confrontation that included gunboats and military aircraft--and Baku now views it inadmissible to include Tehran at all.
"I'm surprised that Armenia for now has military help from Russia, financial assistance from the U.S. and others European countries, and now doesn't [have to] discuss the 1992 resolutions of the UN Security Council, but instead thinks about the [future] status of Karabakh's Armenians," says Ilgar Mamedov, an officer in the reserves, referring to past UN calls to release the occupied territories. "It is an unjust relation to the two disputing sides," he adds. Those feelings of inequity weren't helped much by the 26 July announcement that the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations had approved $90 million in 2002 aid for Armenia, while reaffirming the Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.
Not surprisingly, those who fled their homes are among the