For the past week, the pro-governmental news agencies in Azerbaijan have started sharing articles on the situation of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran. This campaign can be seen as part of the ongoing information war between the two neighboring countries. Caucasus Watch presents some of the articles from Azerbaijani news agencies:

On August 26, an article titled "The time has come: South Azerbaijan should withdraw Iran" was shared on the "caliber.az" website, which was banned in Russia for its pro-Ukraine stance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "The realization that the opening of the Zangazur corridor is not far off, and will certainly become the subject of discussion within the framework of the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, so scared the Iranian official that he gave birth to a hysterical tirade that spread in the Turkish media. Khamenei did not even try to hide the inexplicable hatred for Azerbaijan, which, undoubtedly, is shared by both his spiritual leader and the rest of the "top leadership" of Iran," the analytical department of "caliber.az" said. "However, what else could be expected from a country that refused to recognize the independence of the AR in 1991, more than a month after its announcement? But if xenophobic-racist sentiments towards representatives of another nation can still be explained (but not justified) by banal narrow-mindedness, then outright hatred of brothers in faith for the republic, whose name initially contains the word "Islam," cannot be understood." The article says that 30 million ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran suffer from the chauvinistic policy of farces today. "Meanwhile, our compatriots are not only the largest ethnic group but also make up more than a third of the country's population. And instead of using all possible methods to improve the living conditions of such a large group, united by national identity, and in every possible way seek their favor, the Iranian government, on the contrary, not only does not solve the problems of its Azerbaijani citizens but openly creates new ones," it stated.

On the same day, Azerbaijani government-controlled Report News Agency published an interview of an MP entitled "Armenians are provided with all conditions in Iran, while Azerbaijanis are oppressed." "Azerbaijan has always been interested in maintaining relations with Iran and made continuous efforts to develop relations. But during both the First and Second Karabakh War, Iran demonstrated a hypocritical policy towards Azerbaijan," said Azerbaijani MP Jeyhun Mammadov in his statement to Report News Agency. Mammadov stressed that Iran was not interested in ensuring stability in the region and resolving the former Karabakh conflict: "Tehran is worried about Baku's further strengthening. The victory of Azerbaijan seriously worries several countries, including Iran. Iran considers us its religious brothers and states it stands with Muslims. "However, even though Iran says this, it supports Armenia in practice. This is against the principles of Islam and is not accepted. Azerbaijan has expressed its position on this issue many times." MP reminded that until the Pahlavi dynasty, Azerbaijanis were in power in Iran: "Azerbaijanis have been actively participating in the management of Iran and strengthening of statehood for a long time. But today, Iran ignores our efforts, oppresses Azerbaijanis, and restricts their rights. Of course, this is understandable. However, all conditions have been created for the Armenians living there. Their schools, churches, and public organizations operate freely.

On the other hand, Iran prevents Azerbaijanis there from studying in their native language. However, as I said, the attitude towards Armenians is not the same. Violation of the rights of Azerbaijanis is also against international law. This attitude seriously worries us. Iran must stop this policy."

On August 27, a video about Iran's aid to Armenia was published on the Facebook page of the government-controlled "apa.az" website. The video ends with these sentences: "Azerbaijan sees the insincere policy of Iran, and there are always backup plans against it. In the face of these actions of Tehran, a new reality has already emerged; this reality is the change of the map of the Middle East, the independence of South Azerbaijan.”