Are relations with Iran starting to warm up?

Baku/21.11.22/Turan: Ali Akbar Vilayati, chief adviser to the Supreme Spiritual Leader of Iran Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, said that Iran was never going to invade the Republic of Azerbaijan and take it under its control.

In an article published on the website of the Tasnim agency, the province highly appreciated the role of the Azerbaijani people in the history of Iran and its steps in protecting the country and strengthening the power and regional significance of Iran.

He also touched on the political and media tensions between the two countries and reiterated that all Iranians are considered Iranians, regardless of their ethnicity.

“Today it is necessary to say that every Azerbaijani is an Iranian, and every Iranian is an Azerbaijani. Even if they have a non-Iranian passport or live outside of Iran, this is the case,” the leader’s adviser continued. “I am Azerbaijani myself.”

“We positively assess the opinion of Ali Akbar Vilayati that our peoples have a common history, religious, cultural heritage and traditions, as well as his opinion about Azerbaijan -Iranian relations in general,” Hikmet Hajiyev, the Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, commenting on this statement, said.

According to Hikmet Hajiyev, Azerbaijan is not the initiator of tension with Iran.

 “In particular, I would like to state that the two military exercises conducted by the Iranian armed forces near the borders of Azerbaijan did not serve to strengthen trust between our countries, on the contrary, they had a negative impact on this trust.

In particular, I would like to note that the holding of two military exercises by the Iranian armed forces near the borders of Azerbaijan did not serve to strengthen trust between our countries, but, on the contrary, had a negative impact on it.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has always been interested in developing relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran on the basis of mutual respect and trust, and today it is so,” said Hajiyev.

The political observer Sadreddin Soltan comments on the current situation in relations with Iran in the "Difficult Question" program.

“Ali Akbar Vilayati was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Iranian Islamic Republic at the time when the territories of Azerbaijan were occupied by the armed forces of Armenia. Therefore, Vilayati's speech and statement are insincere,” said Sadreddin Soltan.

According to him, Vilayati's speech can be conditionally divided into two parts.

“In the first part of his speech, Vilayati expresses his attitude towards the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in the second part, towards the Turks of South Azerbaijan,” the observer said, emphasizing that Iran's attitude towards the Republic of Azerbaijan has always been insincere.

“Over the past 30 years, we have witnessed Iran's unfriendly attitude towards Azerbaijan. There are plenty of examples. Also, the actions of Iran over the past two years prove the insincerity of Vilayati.

During the 44-day war, weapons were delivered to Armenia through the territory of Iran. Iranian officials and media have been spreading tales that representatives of some terrorist organizations are fighting on the territory of Azerbaijan, repeating the lies spread by the officials and media of Armenia, Russia and France.

After the end of the war, Iranian trucks were engaged in the delivery of unknown goods to the Armenians in Karabakh.

In the autumn of 2021, Iran held large-scale military exercises on the border with Azerbaijan and made threatening statements, accusing Azerbaijan of carrying out activities against Iran together with Israel.

Subsequently, they announced that they had been detained as terrorists, allegedly while crossing the Azerbaijani-Iranian border. A few days ago, the Iranian special services, having detained a suspect in the terrorist act in the city of Iza, Khuzestan province, stated that he had allegedly been detained near the border of Azerbaijan.

But Vilayati has never refuted these fabrications against Azerbaijan.

In addition, Vilayati emphasized that he was proud of his Azerbaijani origin.

"Every Iranian is an Azerbaijani, and every Azerbaijani is an Iranian," Velayati's article says.

It is clear that being the chief adviser to the supreme spiritual leader of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, such a statement could not be made without the consent of the Rahbar and be accidental,” Sultan says, calling for reflection on what is behind Vilayati’s rhetoric.