On November 28, Isa Habibbayli, the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS), said that the Azerbaijani language is being deliberately ousted in Iran.

According to the Azerbaijani academician, Iran is essentially a Turkic state. "Since ancient times, the state called Iran was ruled by the Azerbaijani-Turkic dynasties: Seljuks, Khorezmshahs, Ghaznavids, Atabeks, Aggoyunlu, Garagoyunlu, Timurids, Safavids, Afshars, and Qajars. In some periods, especially in the twentieth century, Persian chauvinists seized power in Iran. For centuries, the language of communication in Iran was not Persian, as the current regime (in Tehran) claims, but Azeri-Turkic. "And now in Tehran, Mashhad, and other large cities, representatives of different nationalities speak the Azerbaijani language," the head of ANAS said.

Habibbayli then argued that the Persian language is a means of communication for limited official circles, while Azeri is the language of all the peoples living in Iran. "Nevertheless, as the leader of the Azerbaijanis of the world, President Ilham Aliyev rightly said, the Azerbaijani language remains only at the level of everyday life because it is not taught in schools in Iran," he recalled, pointing out that such aggression of the Iranian regime towards the Azerbaijani language endangered the preservation of the language by the Azerbaijanis living there.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, which opens schools, radios, and churches and publishes newspapers for small Armenian communities, must recognize the right of many millions of Azerbaijanis to receive education in their native language," Habibbayli added.

"Depriving more than 35 million Azerbaijanis living in Iran of the right to study in their native language is unacceptable and completely contrary to human rights and humanity in general. The rights of southern Azerbaijanis must be restored; they must be provided with all the freedoms to which they are entitled," the academician summed up.

Sabir Rustamkhanli, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said, "The President of Azerbaijan previously voiced his opinion about the rights of Azerbaijanis living in different countries of the world to read in their mother tongue. He returned to this issue for the second time at the international conference held at ADA University. This is actually a response to the steps taken by Iran over the past 30 years. The president expresses his opinion in this way, expecting diplomatic ethics. However, for 30 years, Iran has helped our enemies, participated in the destruction of Karabakh, laying ruins, and looting our villages. Moreover, he trampled on the rights of about 40 million southern compatriots and gave way to the enemy over their lands. The enemy also used those opportunities - occupied the lands of the southern brothers here. Just as Armenia once did this in Karabakh, Iran also helped it."

"The President's response to Iran's show of force on our borders, military exercises, and insulting programs against Azerbaijan on Iranian television for years is a great historical event. The President declares that Azerbaijan does not want to cast doubt on the integrity of any country. This is only an appropriate response to the steps taken by Iran. I think that if Iran takes a realistic approach to the issue, it should be accepted as normal. "Iran should try to respect the state of Azerbaijan, take the path of resolving all relations through negotiations, try to improve the relations with Azerbaijan, not destroy them," the MP added.

MP Vahid Ahmadov emphasized, "President Ilham Aliyev, at the international conference on 'Along the Middle Corridor: geopolitics, security and economy' held at ADA University, touched upon the issues of Iran and the Brussels meeting and gave very serious messages. These are remarkable messages. Mr. President, apparently, because Iran does not want to stop its dirty deeds, once again stated his position regarding the Iranian state. Our head of state noted that our compatriots there is our lifeblood, we will protect them, and no one can influence Azerbaijan. I believe the Iranian state should come to its senses and establish normal relations with its neighboring state, Azerbaijan. Because both are Muslim states. But it is a pity that Iran has left and established all its relations with Armenia. He helped Armenia during the 44-day war and took the same steps after the war. That is, the development of Azerbaijan is not taken care of by this state. In particular, he does not want to accept the independent policy of our head of state."