President Aliyev reflected on his country’s political and economic situation and the region’s development in 2024 in a long interview with Azerbaijan’s local media on Tuesday. In part of the interview regarding the future of relations between Tehran and Baku, he brought up an unimportant issue. “Relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan deteriorated under the previous Iranian regime, and relations have not yet become that serious even under the new regime. Although there have been contacts between the two countries, are related,” he said. Most were related to economic and transportation issues. ”
Azerbaijan’s president later said, “The deterioration of relations is not our fault,” blaming the former Iranian government for the current state of relations. Aliyev has insisted that Tehran is to blame for the deterioration in relations between the two countries, but in yesterday’s official interview, he again emphasized the attack on the embassy in Tehran two years ago without providing any reason. Addressing recent sensitive issues in Ardabil, he said he and the Turkish president had been insulted and said: “Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s expression of regret is not enough and the Iranian government must publicly apologize.” .
On December 29, 2023, during a recent ceremony in Ardabil to commemorate the “Martyrs of the Chardaran War and Martyrs of the Resistance Front,” one of the participants in the ceremony, who does not hold an official position, is a leader. made unfavorable statements. Seyyed Hassan Ameriyatra, an Islamic jurist from the Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkey, was soon forced into the Friday Prayer Imam of Ardabil and representative of the leadership of the Islamic Republic. “The inappropriate language used by an unofficial member of the public at one of our meetings this week cannot be considered our official, religious or faith language, nor the official position of the Islamic Republic, and such relationships are prohibited,” the state said. It cannot be considered an Islamic Republic.” The world of diplomacy is quite unconventional and controversial. ”
He recalled that “enemies of the Iranian state seek to destroy and weaken Iran’s relations with its neighbors,” and that “the personal statements of individuals are never the official positions of governments of the world.” Everyone knows that,” he said.
Additionally, as Aliyev himself stated, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also publicly expressed regret over the incident. However, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Baku on January 1 and announced a protest.
Azerbaijan was expected not to tolerate such statements by irresponsible ordinary people, a matter that is completely unimportant to bring to the official level. But surprisingly, Ilham Aliyev yesterday, in his official interview as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, highlighted this sensitive issue to the highest official level, saying that Iran should publicly “apologize” for the remarks of ordinary people. He claimed that there was.
In order to make this false statement believable, Aliyev has been using this unimportant matter for two years in order to somehow prove that Baku is completely “innocent” in creating the current situation. This was compared to the previous attack on the Iranian embassy in Tehran.
Following the armed attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in February 2022, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the act, stressing that the attack on the embassy by armed individuals was personally motivated, and stating that the Iranian government He announced that he would seriously follow up on this issue. and prosecute the perpetrators of the incident. However, Aliyev once again recalled this event and described the attack on the Baku embassy as “terrorist” in order to create tension between the two countries for unknown and suspicious reasons. However, according to international norms, such issues can be resolved at a lower level and do not need to be elevated to a higher official level.
Mr. Aliyev criticized Tehran for the current state of bilateral relations, as if these peripheral issues were a bolt from the blue. He brings up unimportant issues as if the Republic of Azerbaijan, a Muslim country and neighboring country, is maintaining good neighborly relations, and it is Iran that is trying to worsen the relationship between the two countries by touching on these issues.
To understand any phenomenon, it is necessary to consider its previous record and also the processes that led to the occurrence of the incident or event. The current state of relations between Tehran and Baku is no exception. We need to ask what other factors are at play in the current situation that Ilham Aliyev is deliberately ignoring and pointing the blame at Tehran.
Everyone knows that one of the main bases of the Zionist regime around Iran is the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Iranian officials believe that many anti-Iranian pranks and acts of sabotage are caused by the bases of the Zionist regime in Azerbaijan. and has repeatedly stated that it can be traced back to its headquarters. Republic of Azerbaijan. However, Baku officials not only have not taken any action in this regard, but also boast of ties with Tel Aviv.
Moreover, over the past years, the media and television networks of the Republic of Azerbaijan have repeatedly acted against Iran’s territorial integrity and broadcast special programs with malicious purposes aimed at the Azerbaijani-speaking target audience in Iran. It has been aired. However, Iran has never brought up such meddling activities at the official level, and has always emphasized good neighborliness and good relations with neighboring countries and sought peaceful solutions to these issues. It also informed the Republic of Azerbaijan that the Zionist regime is trying to destroy the good relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Baku authorities constantly ignore this issue. Ironically, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan considers himself to blame Iran for the current situation!
MNA/6341418
