Tehran Dissociates Itself from Ayatollah's Insolent Outburst Against Azerbaijan

The statements by the representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran do not reflect the position of the Iranian government.

This was stated by the Assistant to the Foreign Minister and Director General for Eurasia at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Mujtaba Damirchili, commenting on the summoning of the Chargé d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Azerbaijan to the country's Foreign Ministry.

The Iranian diplomat was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on January 1 in connection with the insolent outburst by the representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran in Ardabil, Ayatollah Ameli, who insulted the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey and distorted the facts from the history of the two countries.

"Iran's policy is aimed at developing friendly relations with its neighbors, and especially with Azerbaijan. The protest by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was related to the ill-considered and inappropriate statements by one person at a ceremony in one of the northwestern cities of the country. Naturally, such statements have nothing to do with the official position of the Iranian government," the İRNA agency quotes Damirchili as saying.

It should be noted that the ayatollah's aggressive in tone and offensive in content statements were broadcast on a channel that is part of Iran's state television network.