Milli Majlis condemns Tehran's anti-Azerbaijani policy

Baku/07.04.23/Turan: On April 7, at a meeting of the Milli Majlis, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova called on the Iranian parliament to stop provocations against Azerbaijan and refrain from actions damaging bilateral relations.

"Azerbaijan is an independent state, and it decides with whom to build relations. This is its internal business and no one has the right to interfere. We categorically reject the groundless accusations made by the Iranian parliament against our country, we call on Tehran to stop these provocations that damage bilateral relations," she said.

In turn, the Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Fazail Ibrahimli, called Iran a country that "betrays the Islamic world." He called the statement of the Iranian parliament "false and hypocritical."

Deputy Nizami Jafarov accused the Iranian authorities of violating the rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis.

"Iran should not interfere in our relations with Israel. Azerbaijan will not consult with anyone while building relations with other countries. We saw friendship on the part of Israel and betrayal on the part of Iran," he added.

Musa Guliyev said that the protest of the Iranian parliament against the opening of an embassy by Azerbaijan in Israel does not fit into any political and diplomatic ethics.

"Yesterday, 4 Iranian diplomats were declared undesirable persons for espionage. I think the rest of its staff should also leave the country, and the nest of spies and intrigues called the embassy should be closed," he added.

Following the results of the speeches, a response statement was adopted stating that the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan regards the statement of the Iranian parliament of April 5 as interference in the internal affairs of the Azerbaijani state.

"This is another political provocation of the Iranian side against Azerbaijan. For nearly 30 years, Iran has turned a blind eye to Armenia's occupation of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, and often even supported the aggressor. After the liberation of our lands during the Second Karabakh War, Iran began to openly act against Azerbaijan," the document says.

Military exercises on the border, terrorist provocations against the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, the opening of the Iranian consulate in the Armenian city of Gafan, from where 10,000 Azerbaijanis were forcibly expelled and the opening of the Consulate General of Armenia in Tabriz, attempts to prevent the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and other malicious actions are links in the same chain.

"The exposure in Azerbaijan of the espionage network created by the Iranian special services in our country and attempts to unite people with false propaganda around radical religious ideas are of serious concern.

The opening of an embassy in Israel is the sovereign right of Azerbaijan, and baseless accusations in this are unacceptable.

Diplomatic missions of other Muslim countries also operate in Israel, including Morocco, Chad, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey.

Azerbaijan has also opened a diplomatic mission in Palestine. Azerbaijan has always shown solidarity with the Palestinian issue, has always supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has demonstrated this position within the framework of international organizations.

"The Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan strongly condemns and rejects the regular actions of the Iranian side against Azerbaijan and demands that it cease unacceptable actions against our country," the statement stresses. -16D-