@buddy larsen:
–it just sits there, on the verge,

Well, not that I would advocate anything so terribly destabilizing, you know, BUT, if I were an Azeri revanchiste, I’d be calculating how easy it would be to hold a line:
1) from the point where the borders of Iraq, Turkey and Iran meet to
2) a line crossing the southern extreme of the Urmia salt lake,
3) up the mountain north of Bonab/Maragheh,
4) across the highland mountains south of Ardabil,
5) along the watershed to, what?,Ne’or Lake,
6) down to the Caspian south of Hatah Basrah.

Very defensible! Establishes direct land connection between main Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. It doesn’t take in a majority of the Azeri population of Iran, just the heartland (Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia Lake) Plus, perhaps that line runs north of the Kurdish-filled areas, leaving that headache to Iran, right?

This does not require any readjustment of Armenia’s present territory, a not-insignificant consideration.

Disclaimer: I’m not diss’ing Armenia or Kurdistan (or their legitimate aspirations), I’m just reviewing a relatively easy land grab for Azerbaijan should the Persians get whacked really hard. Like any land-grab, it should be defensible for a while, at least, and be based on national aspirations of a majority population. (So call me Wilsonian, I care not!)