The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan conducts combat shootings

Air Defence Units of the Azerbaijani Army are conducting combat shootings at the military training ground according to the Defence Ministry.

"The main purpose of combat shooting is to improve the ability of personnel to control anti-aircraft missile systems and increase combat capability," Ministry highlighted.

According to the report, the shootings are carried out in accordance with the combat training plan. It is unknown how long the simulations will last.

Prior to the training, large-scale Iranian exercises were held near the Azerbaijani border. Disagreements between Baku and Tehran arose after Baku regained control of the Goris-Kapan road, part of Armenia passing through Azerbaijan.

Statement of Azerbaijani human rights activists against Iran

This week, a group of human rights organisations leaders operating in Azerbaijan addressed an appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International regarding the arrest of activists in Iran.

Their appeal comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan. For some time now, Iranian and Azerbaijani officials have been making various accusations against each other.

Iran accuses Azerbaijan of maintaining a "Zionist regime" near its borders, which Azerbaijan denies and demands evidence from Iran.

It may also be in the interest of the Azerbaijani government for human rights activists, who have "warm relations" with the authorities, to complain about Iran at this time.

Iranian officials and the Iranian embassy in Baku did not comment on the statement.

The appeal of human rights activists was spread in the pro-government media in Azerbaijan.

The verdict against the activists named in the statement was handed down on September 20 this year.

Hussein Balakhani, Parviz Siyabi, Mostafa Parvin, Morteza Parvin, Mojtaba Parvin, Hamed Heidari, Mohammad Cholani, Sobhan Bekhshi, Mehdi Hushmand, Bahman Kheyrju, and Sajjad Colani were sentenced to 15 years in prison and 888 lashes. An activist named Asgar Akbarzadeh was fined.

Political commentator Shahin Jafarli believes that the human rights organisations’ appeal in Azerbaijan about Iran should be assessed in the context of tensions between the two countries.

Shahin Jafarli considers the appeal of human rights activists in Azerbaijan regarding "violations" in Iran "justified."

"Azerbaijani human rights activists' raising this issue is important in terms of bringing the problem to the attention of the international community. On the other hand, many of these human rights activists have very good and close relations with the Azerbaijani government," Shahin Jafarli added.

He did not rule out that Azerbaijani official circles have interests and possibly participation in the preparation and dissemination of this appeal.

For some time, Iranian officials have accused Azerbaijan of "challenging Israel on its territory," "detaining terrorists," and "changing borders in the region."

The Azerbaijani side has denied the allegations against Iran and demanded solid evidence for the accusations.

Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have soured after Azerbaijan received customs duties from Iranian drivers on the Goris-Kapan road.

Earlier, Azerbaijan told Iran to suspend cargo shipments to Nagorno-Karabakh through official and unofficial channels and issued a note, but "there were no results."

Iran previously expressed dissatisfaction with Azerbaijan's joint military exercises with Turkey and Pakistan in the Caspian Sea. Iran has since held military exercises on its border with Azerbaijan.

Iran denies Ilham Aliyev's statement

Azerbaijan has closed the drug trafficking route from Iran to Armenia and then to Europe via the Jabrayil region, President Ilham Aliyev said.

He said in a video conference meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State that Azerbaijan had regained control of the 130-kilometer section of the state border with Iran, which had been under Armenian control for 30 years. As a result, the drug trafficking route from Iran to Armenia and then to Europe was closed.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has denied what Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said about Iran at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of State and called it a "fabrication."

"Such media accusations are in the interests of the Zionist regime only to affect the fraternal relations between the Iranian and Azerbaijani peoples," said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Said Khatibzadeh.

He noted Iran's "leading role in the fight against drug trafficking" and said that "the death of thousands of martyrs and wounded in the last four decades is just one example of Iran's continued efforts to combat this terrible phenomenon."

He believes that Iran's work in this direction has been "repeatedly confirmed" by international organisations.

"Unfortunately, despite the personal and positive messages received from Baku, Baku intends to make unfounded press statements, and, of course, an appropriate response will be given," Khatibzade flagged.