Preliminary findings on recent attack on Azerbaijani diplomat point to Iran, says Baku

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the preliminary results of an investigation into a recent armed attack on an Azerbaijani diplomat point to possible Iranian involvement.

Responding to Iranian allegations of Azerbaijani cooperation with Israel against Tehran, ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizade said it was Iran that was cooperating with other countries to threaten and provoke Baku from across its southern border.

Hajizade pointed to military exercises and flights conducted by Iran near the border between the two countries, as well as anti-Azerbaijan statements by Iranian officials and threatening videos against the country near the Khudafarin bridge on the border.

He also mentioned a recent the "terrorist attack against the embassy of Azerbaijan in Iran, the preliminary traces of the investigation of the terrorist act against Fazil Mustafa, a member of the Milli Majlis."

According to Hajizade, the current "brotherhood" between Iran and Armenia is also a "threat to the region as a whole," adding that over the last 30 years, Tehran "has practically turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia."

"It is well known that Iran does not pay attention to the occupation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur and the looting of these areas, the selling of stones removed from the houses in these areas in Iranian markets, the destruction and insulting of 65 of the 67 existing mosques," he said.

Ha also condemned the Iranian statements on Azerbaijani-Israeli relations, saying they were the "next step in the crisis of Azerbaijan-Iran relations."

"These threats from the Iranian side can never scare Azerbaijan. Despite the military support sent to Armenia from Iran, the Azerbaijani army defeated the invading Armenian army in 2020. After that, any aggression and provocation against Azerbaijan will be resolutely prevented."

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.