Tension is running high in the suburb of Nardaran. Last week six people died, two policemen and four gang members, during a shoot-out between the security forces and a group they said had been plotting a series of attacks.

Witnesses to the operation this week said that armed police surrounded Nardaran and moved in with armoured cars. Photos also showed Nardaran residents burning tyres and stockpiling stones ahead of the police operation. There were no reports, though, of fighting.

Azerbaijan is formally a secular country although the majority of the population are Shia Muslims. Nard- aran is one of the most conservative areas in the country, a place where most women wear head scarves. Head scarves have been banned at schools in Azerbaijan but they are still a common sight in Nardaran.

Azerbaijan’s pious Shia community often turns to Iran for support and state-linked media in Tehran has been reporting on the Azerbaijani security forces’ operations in Nardaran. It described the operation as the start of another crackdown on the Shia community.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have been improving over the past few years. The security force’s action in Nardaran this week and the violence last week threatens to undo some of this improvement.