Iran sends the next note of protest to Azerbaijan

On March 17 Iran sent the third formal protest note to Azerbaijan in a month. According to Hurriyet Daily News the protest note ordered “terrorist acts” in the neighboring republic against Western and Israeli targets. 

Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Tehran, Javanshir Akhundov, was summoned to the foreign ministry to hear an official denial that Iran was involved in plots Baku claimed were masterminded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the state news agency IRNA reported, quoting a ministry statement. Baku made the charge on March 14. Its national security ministry said that 22 Azerbaijani citizens had been arrested on suspicion of cooperating with the Revolutionary Guards “to commit terrorist acts against the U.S., Israeli and other Western states’ embassies and the embassies’ employees.”



At the same time Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political Department Chief Ali Hasanov stressed Saturday on expansion of relations with Iran, adding that nothing can hurt good relations between the two neighboring countries. Iranian IRNA informs about this.

“Iran and Azerbaijan are neighboring countries with common history and culture,” he told reporters.

The information publicized by the Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security is absolutely not an action directed against the Iranian state, Azerbaijani presidential administration social and political department chief noted.

He was expressing his attitude toward detention in Azerbaijan of a group of people accused of espionage activity against an Iranian revolutionary organization.

The official believes it will not have a negative impact on the Iranian-Azerbaijani inter-state relations.