Background

At a joint press conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Mammadov in Tel Aviv on March 29, Israel's Foreign Minister Elli Cohen accused Iran of threatening the region and supporting terrorism.

"We must act together against Iran. We must not allow Iran to expand its nuclear capabilities," Cohen said.

Dissatisfaction from the Iranian side

Nasser Kanaani, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, called on the Azerbaijani authorities to make a statement regarding the recent statements against Iran and “the alleged united front formed against Tehran by the Israeli regime.”

Kanaani called this step another evidence of the “Zionist regime's intention to turn the territory of Azerbaijan into a threat to the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and strongly condemned it. The representative of Iran also said that the government of Azerbaijan should avoid falling into the trap set by the enemies of Iran and the people of Azerbaijan.

Emphasizing that there are strong historical and religious ties between the peoples of Iran and Azerbaijan, Kanaani added that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always tried to prevent the efforts of the enemies trying to create distance between the two neighboring countries. "The Islamic Republic of Iran cannot remain indifferent to the conspiracy [threat] of the Zionist regime against the country from the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan," he said.

Azerbaijan Responds

On March 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan objected to the claims of Nasir Kanaani regarding the statements made by Jeyhun Bayramov during his visit to Israel.

Aykhan Hajizada, the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said that Bayramov did not express any position against Iran at the press conference held in Israel. "Therefore, the statement of the representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Baku is considered the next anti-Azerbaijani step," he added. Hajizada, strongly condemning the views expressed by the Iranian official towards Azerbaijan, said that such statements put the relations between the two countries in a state of crisis. "Azerbaijan has never allowed its territory to be used against third countries," he said.

According to him, on the contrary, recent threats and provocations have been made against Azerbaijan from the territory of Iran. "For example, military exercises conducted by Iran along the borders of Azerbaijan, military flights over the border, anti-Azerbaijani statements by Iranian officials, even involving children by Iranian security structures such as the IRGC, and threatening videos against Azerbaijan near Khudafarin bridge, shooting and demonstrations, the terrorist attack on the embassy of Azerbaijan in Iran, the initial traces of the investigation of the terrorist act against the member of the Milli Majlis Fazil Mustafa can be shown to be evidence of Iran," Hajizada said.

He added that Tehran's threats could not scare Azerbaijan and that Azerbaijan could prevent any aggression and provocation.

Iran sends a note of protest

On April 1, Iran submitted a note of protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. It was noted that the note of protest was delivered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan through the Iranian embassy in Baku.

In the note, Iran expressed concern over the continuation of inappropriate and offensive actions of some media organizations of Azerbaijan: "Iran demands an end to this process and corrections are made. In addition, Iran warns about the negative and harmful consequences of continuing this immorality of the media on the future relations between the two countries.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister responds to Iran's accusations

On the same day, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, held an official meeting, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported.

Commenting on the remarks made by those who cannot accept the successful operations of the Azerbaijan Army, the Minister of Defense stressed that nobody could speak to Azerbaijan in a menacing tone, saying that the accusations of the service members of some countries supporting terrorism and occupation policy are unacceptable and nonsense.

The Minister of Defense analyzed the current operational situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian conditional state border and in the Karabakh economic region. The Minister gave appropriate instructions to suppress possible provocations hereinafter.

The Azerbaijan Defense Minister noted that all the illegal activities of the opposing side and the illegal Armenian armed detachments must be kept under constant control from now on, and such steps must not be allowed to be taken in the territory of Azerbaijan in the future.