Events Summary

On March 11, Abbas Mousavi, Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and was presented with a corresponding note of protest. The reason was that the Iranian military aircraft flew at a distance of 3-5 kilometers from the state border of Azerbaijan and, in some cases, over the state border.

According to information, on March 11, an Iranian military plane flew continuously along the Azerbaijan-Iran state border from the Zangilan district to the Bilasuvar district and back from 09:44 [local time] to 10:26.

"It has always been aggressive and a colonial vision. It just goes through these overt, covert, and aggressive phases sometimes"

Hikmet Babaoğlu, the Deputy Chairman of the Defense, Security, and Anti-Corruption Committee of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said that Iran's attitude towards Azerbaijan has not changed since independence (1991) until now: "It has always been an aggressive and colonial view. Only sometimes it is open, went through secret and aggressive stages".

He thinks Iran has never gained from this: "During the Second Karabakh War, Iran sent weapons to Armenia and did not achieve any results. Violating the borders of Azerbaijan through the Gafan-Gorus [Kapan-Goris in Armenian] road, it again sent weapons and terrorists to Karabakh, but we closed this road as well. We also have the list of 19 terrorists it sent to Karabakh last time. As a result, Iran has not been able to achieve anything. On the contrary, it has introduced itself as a state that supports terrorism more and more in the system of international relations and has lost the trust of more than 30 million of our compatriots who are its citizens." Babaoğlu says Iran cannot dare to step in that direction: "Because as a result, it will interfere with the rights of a sovereign country, and Azerbaijan will have to respond adequately to it together with its allies. Azerbaijan signed the Shusha Declaration with its brother [country], Turkey, in 2021. At the same time, Azerbaijan has many friendly countries, together with which Azerbaijan is the dictating party in the region."

In his opinion, in parallel, through soft power, Iran is trying to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan, against which the country's law enforcement agencies are currently taking measures: "Just a day ago (on March 12), as a result of the operation of the State Security Service, an attempt was made to conduct a case against the state of Azerbaijan a group of citizens was exposed. Iran may exploit people's beliefs over certain radical religious groups and organize attacks against Azerbaijan. But this will not be effective because Azerbaijani religious people are also educated and patriotic."

"Iran considers itself to be of the same nation in a sisterly way with Armenians"

Azerbaijani MP Malahat Ibrahimgizi said: "Iran tends to create sedition against Azerbaijan, especially among the South Caucasian republics. During the time of our great leader Heydar Aliyev, Iran violated the borders and committed such a military provocation. Of course, after a short time, the answer was given as necessary. As during the period, Iran is still next to the aggressor, the aggressor state of Armenia, it considers itself to be of the same nation in a sisterly way with Armenians. That is, Iran supports the occupying position of Armenia."

"Even if it is late, let Iran understand that provoking Azerbaijan will not bring it any good, it will not benefit it. Everyone clearly knows what kind of situation Iran is in. We have more than 40 million compatriots there. Our president has always said in his speeches that the state of Azerbaijan will not be indifferent to the fate of its compatriots," she added.

"Iran stood by Armenia after the 44-day Patriotic War"

Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Vahid Ahmadov said: "A few days ago, a military plane belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran flew continuously along the Azerbaijan-Iran state border, from Zangilan district to Bilasuvar district and back, it is not a good thing."

The MP said that raising fighter planes along the border could be considered a threat: "In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Defense made certain statements. In general, after the war, Iran started conducting exercises on our borders. Later, Azerbaijan-Turkey conducted exercises there and abroad. They withdrew. That is, all these are certain threats made by Iran to Azerbaijan. Iran stood by Armenia after the 44-day Patriotic War and still stands by it today. It has completely forgotten its friendly and neighborly relations with us, as well as the fact that we are a Muslim state. It is building more relations with Armenia and giving us they also make such threats."

"Iran must remember that Azerbaijan is no longer the Azerbaijan of the 1990s"

Azer Badamov, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said, "Iran is using all its capabilities to disrupt political stability in Azerbaijan, weaken the country, and expand its anti-Azerbaijani policy. Among other things, it conducts military exercises on the borders of our country, terrorizes our embassy, and carries out military flights over our border. Of course, our state monitors this anti-Azerbaijani policy of Iran and takes certain steps against it. Relevant state bodies precisely carry out intelligence work, and Iran's spy networks are regularly exposed."

The MP added that Iran is deepening its policy of hostility towards Azerbaijan: “It is arming Armenia and conducting military exercises. In particular, during the years when our lands were under occupation, they destroyed and looted our settlements, hand in hand with Armenians. Along with all this, Iran should remember that Azerbaijan is no longer the Azerbaijan of the 1990s. Also, he should not forget that 40% of Iran's population is made up of Azerbaijanis. As Iran's Persian-mullah regime expands its anti-Azerbaijani policy, it accelerates the division within its own country. I believe that we should further increase our military power as a response to these hostile actions of Iran against Azerbaijan. Actions should be expanded in the direction of exposing other elements introduced by Iran into our country.”

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Downward Trajectory in Azerbaijan-Iran Ties