Israel's presence in Azerbaijan not be tolerated, Iranian Foreign Minister

Moscow – Hossein Amirabdohallahian, Iranian foreign minister, said Iran would not tolerate geopolitical change and map change in the Caucasus, and we have serious concerns about the presence of terrorists and Israel in this region. The warning has been issued against the background of growing military cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan. During his first visit to Russia, Foreign Minister Amirabdohallahian warned Azerbaijan and Israel about his country’s stand.

Tensions have been brewing between Iran and Azerbaijan for few weeks. Azerbaijan has cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan and now they are growing ties with Israel. Last month, Azerbaijan held military exercises near the border with Turkey and Pakistan. Iran expressed their frantic about this. In response, Iran also conducted military exercises near the border of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev criticised Iran’s military exercises near its border and initiated an exercise along with Turkey called Indestructible Brotherhood near the Iranian border. Outraged with this, Iran closed its airspace to Azerbaijan’s military aircraft, which caused repercussions in Azerbaijan. President Aliyev ordered action against Iran in major cities, including the capital city Baku to close offices and other buildings belonging to Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Authorities in Azerbaijan have backed the move, citing the reason for the Coronavirus pandemic spread in Baku in the last few days from the same offices and buildings. But Iran has taken serious cognisance of this, threatening to give Azerbaijan an appropriate reply soon. Under such circumstances, Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdohallahian arrived in Russia on Wednesday. He met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Upon his arrival in Russia, Iran’s foreign minister objected to the increasing military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel. Israel is an arms supplier to Azerbaijan. In last year’s conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan used Israeli-made drones as well as other military technology. It is claimed that Azerbaijan is currently preparing to purchase Arrow 3 air defence systems from Israel. Iran appears to be threatening Azerbaijan against this.