On November 11, Ali Alizada, the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs "in the wake of anti-Iran propaganda and a smear campaign against the Islamic Republic by Azerbaijan’s officials and media," the Press Office of the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported.

"During the session, the Iranian Foreign Minister’s Assistant and Director General of the Ministry’s Eurasia Department conveyed Iran’s strong protest at and dissatisfaction with the unfriendly remarks of Azerbaijan’s top officials and Azeri media’s smear campaign to Baku’s envoy," the report added.

"We expect an end to this trend as soon as possible and the adoption of necessary measures to prevent a repetition," the Iranian official said.

"Azerbaijan’s Ambassador expressed regret over the current situation and said he would relay the Islamic Republic’s protest to Baku swiftly," the Ministry stated.

On the same day, Seyid Abbas Mousavi, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Azerbaijan, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported.

During the meeting, the dissatisfaction and concern regarding the recent propaganda against the Republic of Azerbaijan, the smear campaign, and the threatening rhetoric of the high-ranking political and military officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is not in line with the spirit of the relations between the two countries, were brought to the attention of the other side.

"The inadmissibility of creating conditions for the settlement of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Iran, who have committed a crime against the foundations of the constitutional structure of Azerbaijan and were placed on international search by the decision of the court to arrest them, and the necessity of handing over the criminals, was once again mentioned," the report added.

It was said that it is an unfriendly step to receive the persons who incite separatism in the Republic of Azerbaijan and are hiding in other countries, avoiding criminal prosecution, in Iranian embassies. It was emphasized that it is unacceptable to broadcast such information and conduct activities against Azerbaijan in Iran. It is expected to end them as soon as possible.

Notably, after the Second Karabakh War, diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Iran became quite strained and remain difficult even today. After Iran conducted large-scale military drills on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, opened an Iranian consulate in Kapan, Armenia, and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced an Armenian consulate in Azerbaijani-habited Tabriz, Azerbaijan’s rhetoric against Iran became more aggressive, both in the media and at the official level. Beginning in November, deputies of the Azerbaijani parliament, other officials, state TV channels, and public or state agencies began to bring the issue of "South Azerbaijan" [Azerbaijanis call northern provinces of Iran inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis with this term] into the political arena. There were also some unverified reports by Azerbaijani news outlets that leaflets with pictures of the President of Azerbaijan have been spread in Tabriz, Ardabil, and other cities of Iran.