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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Baku on Sunday to expand relations with Azerbaijan amid Iran’s violent suppression of protests that has killed thousands.
Sa’ar condemned Iran’s crackdown during meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
“There is a massacre of unimaginable proportions taking place in Iran,” Sa’ar said at Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry. “A massacre of people by the regime that rules them. If this is how they act toward their own people — how should they be expected to act toward other countries?”
Israel supports the protesters seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic, while Baku monitors developments affecting Iran’s ethnic Azeri population, estimated at 15-20 million people in the country’s northwest.
Casualty estimates from Iran’s protest crackdown range from approximately 3,100 according to state media to more than 30,000 cited by independent sources. A near-total internet shutdown has prevented verification.
Sa’ar arrived with a delegation of more than 40 Israeli companies and economic organisations for meetings that included Jewish community leaders and a business forum.
“Israel and Azerbaijan are both pillars of stability in our regions, with advanced economies,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “The high-level business-economic delegation accompanying me today is an expression of our desire to strengthen our strategic and economic relations.”
The countries announced plans to deepen cooperation in energy, defence, water management, agriculture and tourism.
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR acquired a 10% stake in an Israeli gas field, the first such investment. Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said mutual investments between the countries total approximately $600 million.
Sixty thousand Israeli tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2025. Some 130 Israeli-invested commercial entities operate in the country.
The National Confederation of Entrepreneurs Organisations of Azerbaijan and the Manufacturers Association of Israel signed a memorandum covering business missions, company meetings and investment studies.
“Azerbaijan and Israel have a solid foundation of political trust and constructive dialogue, supported by long-term cooperation at both the political and institutional levels,” Jabbarov said.
Azerbaijan is home to approximately 30,000 Jews alongside its majority Muslim population, one of the largest Jewish communities in the South Caucasus.