Azerbaijan last week formally inaugurated a new navy base south of Baku to keep a watch over the Caspian Sea. Iran has been grinding its teeth over the Azerbaijani Navy, which has been equipped and trained by the United States to monitor Iranian naval activity in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan made that a priority after an Iranian ship and planes intercepted an Azerbaijani oil survey ship almost a decade ago and forced it at gunpoint to leave an oilfield claimed by both countries.
