(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Qabil Ashirov read more Iran's imperious and jingoistic army generals in concert with
diplomats continue to blatantly threaten and blackmail Azerbaijan
by unjustifiedly demanding explanations from Baku for its foreign
policy priorities.
This is ludicrous and comical with respect to Azerbaijan - an
independent state - which always pursues independent and fair
policies driven by its national interests that are unharmful and
non-toxic for third countries, in particular for neighbors.
Notwithstanding all this, Tehran's theocratic regimes have always
failed to assess Baku's friendly and good-neighborly policies.
Alas... In the meantime, hardly a day goes without Iran's
unfounded accusations and attempts to interfere in Azerbaijan's
domestic affairs. The recent vile and defamatory anti-Azerbaijani
remarks by the commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Force, Brig
Gen Kioumars Heydari, are also neither surprising nor
unexpected.
They are not the first time, nor will it be the last and soon
after this vile accusation of the figurehead general, the Iranian
Foreign Ministry repeated the same rhetoric.
In a comment on the remarks by the Iranian figurehead and
untested on the battlefield general, expert Farhad Mammadov opined
that Iran's latest statement and the opening of the Azerbaijani
embassy in Israel have irritated Iran.
However, the current accusations, especially the allegation that
members of ISIS were involved in the 44-day war on the Azerbaijani
side in 2020 and that they are still in Azerbaijan, are ridiculous.
The claim that ISIS and Israel are in the same territory should be
considered as a baseless accusation, proving once again that Iran's
stance on the region is wide off the mark.
“Iran says that it cannot turn a blind eye to a change of
borders in the region. According to Khamenei, this is a red line
for them. However, there was a danger of changing the borders of
the two countries by force in the South Caucasus. The danger is
still there with one of the South Caucasus nations.
"My point is that Armenia wanted and still wants to change
Azerbaijan's borders by force, and Russia intends to change the
borders of Georgia by force and even Russia occupied two regions of
Georgia. The occupation is still going on. Both Russia and Armenia
are Iran's partner countries. This accusation primarily concerns
the countries with which Iran is a partner in the region and they
have nothing in common with Azerbaijan,” the expert said.
Farhad Mammadov noted that it is unknown what Iran wants from
the region. If Iran is against the change of borders in the region,
Azerbaijan offers Armenia to sign a peace agreement, and the basis
of this peace agreement is territorial integrity, mutual
recognition of territories, and political solution to all
issues.
“Iran has not yet expressed a clear opinion on the peace issue
being discussed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We do not know
whether Iran supports it or is against it. Here, Iran's insincerity
manifests itself once again,” Farhad Mammadov added.
Moreover, Azerbaijan has never had a territorial claim on
Armenia, and the proof of this is the fact that Azerbaijan wants to
install checkpoints both on the Lachin-Khankandi road and on the
Zangezur corridor. With this, Azerbaijan once again proves that the
sovereign rights over the corridor belong to Armenia.
The pundit also added that Iran's opinion about the Zangazur
corridor is obscure and dark.
“If they are against the exterritorial corridor issue through
Armenia, then Azerbaijan's proposal to erect checkpoints on the
border disproves this claim. If they are against communications
going from the western regions of Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, passing
through the territory of Armenia, then they should state this
openly. Anyway, a new question crops up. If they are against our
proposal, why did they sign a memorandum on communication with
Azerbaijan regarding the use of Iran's territory to Nakhchivan,”
Farhad Mammadov questioned.
The pundit noted that those insincere, baseless, and false views
of Iran indicate that Iran's South Caucasus policy has reached an
impasse. In addition, the political leadership of Armenia has not
asked Iran for help in case of an attack on Armenian territory.
Also, there is no document regulating Iran's military support to
Armenia. That is, they are neither allies nor members of any
military-political bloc, nor is there a bilateral agreement under
which Iran can provide military assistance to Armenia.
“Having noted all this, I want to note that the baseless,
ridiculous, slanderous accusations about Israel and ISIS are the
product of groundless and spurious official rhetoric. If Iran
intends to implement a clear-cut policy vis-a-vis Azerbaijan, i.e.
if it wants to eliminate the tension and normalize relations with
Azerbaijan, it should show it in statements and actions.
First, Iran should step on a terrorist/s and assassin's
paymaster/s for the crime against the security officer of the
Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran. Iran should avoid issuing
anti-Azerbaijani statements and end with its hypocritical policies.
Without these, of course, we will witness similar statements and
military threats, and tensions will remain high,” the pundit
opined.
---