u/CalligrapherOther510

Was playing around with some old Aperture tech and accidentally saw this before the portal closed.

In the 1990s as the USSR began to fall Azerbaijan came into conflict with another former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia over Karabakh, initially Iran attempted to reach out to Azerbaijan however found a cold shoulder. With the newly independent Azeri government being dominated by Pan-Turkic nationalists, secularists and former Communists, as well as Azeri leaders claiming Iranian Azerbaijan as Azeri territory.

Iran began to support Armenia with arms and blockades against Azerbaijan. While on Iran’s eastern borders the post-Soviet civil war in Afghanistan continued to rage with Iranian backing of Shia factions in the Northern Alliance. But as Azerbaijan lost in Armenian dominated Karabakh, Azerbaijan began to build up its forces in the south and Nakhivan, prompting Iran to reciprocate. Azerbaijan began to view Iran’s build up as a provocation and threat, and began to shell Iranian positions with mortars, artillery, and Katyushas in 1996.

Iran retaliated with rudimentary missiles, and large wave attacks on vulnerable Azerbaijani positions and border posts, overrunning border points. While at the same time despite backing the Northern Alliance began showing a blind eye to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after a clandestine non-aggression pact with Osama Bin Laden and AQ in the early 90s in Sudan to understand the United States, as it was AQ members were passing through Iran to go to northern Iraq, into Iraqi Kurdistan under the Islamic Emirate of Halabja, with less presence on the eastern border Jihadists began to flood into Iran to go to Iraqi Kurdistan, with the ongoing civil war there between PDK and PUK, as well as internationally imposed no-fly zone.

As the conflict escalated between Azerbaijan and Iran in the mid-90s, the UN and international community began to call for a ceasefire, while Saddam Hussein’s Iraq eagerly watched the conflict unfold offering rhetorical support for Azerbaijan, saying “The Persian aggressor has again showed its true face of against a peaceful nation like Azerbaijan. The government of Great Iraq condemns Persian aggression against the peaceful people of Azerbaijan. We call for the Islamic and Arab nation to stand by our brothers in Azerbaijan and the people of Iraq carry the pain of their people in our hearts. Those in Tehran should not test or ignore the grace and patience of Iraq’s people, the swords of Iraq are sharp if they bring the war to our doors.”

While President Clinton hoping to avoid American involvement and increasingly being asked about the subject said “We monitoring the situation closely between Iran and Azerbaijan. The United States will always ask for a peaceful solution however we have to be clear Iran is a regime that supports terrorism and undermines regional security, and is clearly undermining a young democracy like Azerbaijan. The United States and American people stand by our friends in Azerbaijan in this moment of crisis.”

As the conflict unfolded Russia eventually stepped in to mediate a cease-fire by early 1997. Into the 2000s tensions remained high between the two, Israel began to deepen its presence in Azerbaijan with military technology sharing and Turkey with training and arms exchange programs as well as the Saudis increasing ties with Azerbaijan. While Jihadists from Afghanistan including prominent Jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi crossing from Iran into Iraq’s chaotic north with Iran’s focus on its northern border.

As 9/11 happened, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Iran began to redeploy forces from its northern borders to the Southwest and East, while discreetly sharing intel and resources with US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Giving Azerbaijan room to breathe modernize its military from Soviet era equipment to more modern kits and technology, as well as expand its KGB influenced security apparatus, and grow ties with Mossad and Turkey’s MiT. The US also faced heavy al-Qaeda operations in Iraq due to a decade of veterans from the Soviet-Afghan war into Iraq. Making the battles of Fallujah extremely heavy.

Into the mid-2000s and with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran in 2005, announcing Iran’s intentions for a nuclear program, as well as very strong and clear commitment to Iranian doctrine and ambitions in the region. The Bush administration with Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia bolstered investment in Azerbaijan’s military including with Patriot missiles, training from Seal Team 6, SOCOM, and streamlined armaments.

By the 2010s the borders between Iran and Azerbaijan were heavily fortified. Russia found itself as the regular mediator between Azeri-Iranian issues. In 2020 Azerbaijan successfully asserted control over Armenian Karbakh despite strong Armenian and Iranian support for local ground forces. Supplying them with drones, missiles and heavy armaments. However Azerbaijan had an intel advantage with intel from the CIA and Mossad, as well as manpower reinforced by Syrian rebel mercenaries brought in with Turkish help, along with arms supplies from Israel, the US and Turkey, Azerbaijan was at the advantage.

With the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the Caspian sea serving as a lifeline between Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan began increased patrols in the Caspian with their flotilla against Iranian ships headed towards Russia, causing further tensions as well as increased intel sharing and cooperation between Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

In January 2025 after the nomination of Donald Trump, and in the aftermath of the October 7th attack in Israel, along with the loss of Karabakh, Russian attention in Ukraine, and the fall of the friendly Assad regime in Syria. Iran announced Operation Mountain of Resistance. It opened with a sermon Khameni saying Azerbaijan is harboring Wahhabist terrorists from Syria, with and al-Qaeda members, and it is a CIA-Mossad spy base, that has frequently provoked Iran and Iran must take action saying. “Azerbaijan has allowed its nation to be a home for Takfiri terrorists from Syria such as ISIS, and they harbor the agents from the Zionist regime and American intelligence services, and have provoked our nation multiple times, the patience of the faithful has been tested and we can no longer tolerate such a regime and we will seek to establish justice with Operation Mountain of Resistance.”

With the recently sworn in Donald Trump saying “Iran cannot attack Azerbaijan, beautiful country, beautiful people. If Iran continues what they’re doing in Azerbaijan their ‘operation’ mountain of whatever, they’ll be sorry, very sorry. We’re not going to allow that, a terrorist regime to go into another country and just attack it. No. Hell no. I love Azerbaijan they told Iran ‘we’ll fight’ and they they did it, the said ‘fight, fight, fight’, and they fought good people. We love em. Iran has a very heavy burden to deal with, I’m very angry, and have been. We’ll see what happens with Iran if they want to make a deal or not.”

Iran’s army gained ground in the south of Azerbaijan along the Caspian coast and Nakhivan, but Azerbaijan proved a formidable force holding their lines in strategic locations and Iranian forces failing to reach Baku, or foster sympathy from locals in southern border towns, while Turkey, Israel and the US provide significant material support and Ukraine deep intelligence cooperation.

In February 2026, The United States launches Operation Epic Fury, heavily degrading and distracting Iran’s operations in Azerbaijan. Forcing Iran to face a two front war between the Persian Gulf and Azerbaijan, leading Azerbaijan to regain land in the south while Iran retains a strong defensive hold in Nakhivan as of August 2026.

Hey everyone, I just got back from the “Great American State Fair” and I feel like I accidentally stepped into the backrooms. It was easily one of the most bizarre, empty, and unhinged things I’ve ever seen in my life.

The whole place had this eerie, dystopian vibe. Here were the absolute wildest highlights:

-The Main Stage: There were maybe 10 people total sitting in a massive area watching Dr. Oz get interviewed by a Fox News anchor.

-The "State Booths": Calling these "displays" is generous. Most of them were just random folding chairs. My absolute favorite was the Massachusetts booth—the entire "photo op" beyond the chairs, was just an old, creased road map from someone’s car taped to the wall.

- The Atmosphere: Tons of preachers wandering the empty pathways, approaching the few attendees to ask, "Has anyone told you God loves you today?" And trying to get you to recite a blessing.

-The Exhibit Tents: Some of these were truly bizarre. There was a massive tent featuring various religious organizations talking about the end times, weirdly interspersed with booths giving out defense contractor merchandise or a Truth Social booth where you could look at trump’s tweets on an iPad…

-The Photo Ops: If the MA map wasn't enough, you could also stop by the Fox News booth to get your picture taken on a replica set of Fox & Friends.

Honestly, it was so incredibly weird that I highly recommend going just to experience it.

TL;DR: Visited a completely empty "Great American State Fair." Saw Dr. Oz interviewing for a crowd of 10 people, an end-times religious tent giving out defense contractor merch, and a Massachusetts booth that was just an old car map taped to a wall. 10/10 surreal experience.