Baku again hits back at Iranian accusations Israel used Azerbaijani territory to attack Iran
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has refuted insinuations from Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani that Baku allowed its territory to be used by Israel to attack Iran.
On 27 June, Sobhani said, ‘We have received information that a small number of drones flew into Iranian territory from the territory of neighbouring countries. Therefore, during a telephone conversation between the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan, our president asked Aliyev to conduct a serious investigation into this matter. We will await the results of this investigation’.
‘It is possible that our enemy, [Israel], made use of the territory of our neighboring state. Azerbaijan has assured us that it will not allow its territory to be used against Iran. However, we all know [Israel] very well: they do not follow any rules, they do not observe any laws. Therefore, there is still a possibility that they were able to take advantage of the moment’.
Although he did not explicitly level accusations at Azerbaijan, Baku responded forcefully, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada calling Sobhani’s comments an ‘open provocation’.
‘Azerbaijan categorically refutes allegations that its airspace or territory was used by any state to conduct military operations against the neighbouring [Iran] or any other country. Such claims are baseless and lack any credible evidence’, Hajizada said.
‘We expect Iran to prevent such steps, which are inappropriate to the spirit of our relations, as well as to take necessary steps regarding the opinions voiced by the Ambassador, who regularly demonstrates his pro-Armenian position, rather than represent his country’.
The back-and-forth followed a phone call between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, during which Pezeshkian urged Aliyev to investigate if Israel used Azerbaijani territory to launch attacks on Iran.
The growing spat between Baku and Tehran played out elsewhere in Azerbaijani media, with the pro-government media outlet Caliber publishing a scathing criticism of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei under the title ‘Khamenei and his war on Azerbaijan: The root of a hatred’.
The article personally attacked Khamenei and argued that ‘he is the one behind every anti-Azerbaijani provocation, every disinformation campaign, every initiative aimed against the country’.
In addition, it suggested that Khamenei may be of Armenian descent, but provided no evidence to support its claims.
Nate Ostiller
