Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict in American 'Seal Team' Series

— 12 hours ago, Armenian forces violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, explains a special operations officer from the U.S. Navy to his comrades.

— What do we need this dispute between countries whose names I can barely pronounce? asks one of the soldiers.

— Azerbaijan is our only ally in the Caspian Sea... Russia and Iran are escalating the situation, and we cannot afford to weaken, replies the officer.

This is a segment of the latest episode of the third season of the American series 'Seal Team', broadcast by CBS. The series portrays members of an American special operations team who visit various hot spots around the world to address critical issues related to U.S. foreign interests. Each episode garners approximately 5 million viewers and is classified among mid-rated series. The latest episode of 'Seal Team' aired last night.

To tackle new challenges, this time the team arrives in our region. The plot of this episode revolves around a power plant located in Azerbaijan. It is significant for maintaining the balance of power in the region and, according to available information, some malevolent forces are planning to seize the power plant.

Special operations officers suspect that these malevolent forces are 'Armenian loyalists, Shia militias, and external forces intending to diminish American influence in the region'. It is unclear who these Armenian loyalists are and what connection they have with the Shia militias.

Before the operation begins during a briefing, they conclude that the group planning the attack consists of Armenian militias aiming to seize the power plant and use it in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to force Azerbaijan to make concessions. The 'Seal Team' operation is meant to protect Azerbaijan, a U.S. ally, from this attack. As in nearly all cases, this operation is classified.

What is the issue?

Last night, before the actual release of the episode, the U.S. consul in Azerbaijan, Nasim Aghayev, published a one-and-a-half-minute trailer of the episode on his Twitter page. It has caused outrage online. The content of the conversations in the episode, the misrepresentation of the geopolitical context, and the apparent support for Azerbaijan prompted criticisms.

Many Twitter users (both Armenian and foreign) expressed doubts about the potential bias of the episode, suspecting it might be linked to Azerbaijani lobbying. Aghayev's tweet was seen by many as evidence supporting this suspicion. The Armenian side is labeled as 'the enemy' in the series, while Azerbaijan is mainly presented in a positive light as the U.S.'s only ally between hostile Russia and Iran.

The Armenian National Committee of America condemned CBS for 'the biased portrayal of the 'Seal Team' as glorifying the Azerbaijani dictatorship as the U.S. “only ally” and depicting Armenians as aggressors.' The Armenian-American National Committee also criticized the broadcaster, questioning, 'Is CBS also receiving money from Aliyev? This is the only explanation for the absurd plot of the episode...'

How did the American operation conclude?

As noted in an article on eurasia.net, unexpected developments arise towards the end of the 45-minute episode. It turns out that the malevolent forces wishing to seize the power plant are not Armenian militias but Iranian mercenaries, whose sole aim is to further escalate the situation in the region.

This is revealed in a scene where the adversaries use a drone, which, apparently, could not belong to Armenians. 'These are not Armenian militias, who are we fighting against, damn it,' exclaims one of the American soldiers during combat operations.

It is also worth mentioning that Eurasia.net contacted CBS to request a comment on the problematic points in the episode but has yet to receive a response.