Azerbaijan, Baku, 10 May / Trend E. Mehtiev /
The arrest of Azerbaijani citizens in Iran is an unpleasant incident, Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov told journalists on Friday.
When such cases occur frequently they create concern in society and at the same time is also our concern as a public authority, Khalafov added.
"The duty of the Azerbaijani state and direct duty of the diplomatic representatives of the country is in providing legal assistance to citizens, detained or prosecuted in another country and we do it.
"Meanwhile, the diplomatic representatives have taken the necessary measures and appealed to Iran in relation to the detention of the Azerbaijani citizens. Their location was found and Iran has not yet fully explained the reasons why the citizens of Azerbaijan were detained. In any case, all the issues will be clarified. If the citizens detained in Iran are not guilty, then Azerbaijan will do everything possible to rescue them," the deputy minister said.
Research Fellow of the Nizami Ganjavi Institute of Literature, scientist-orientalist Khalida Khalid and her assistant Shamkhal Huseynov were arrested on April 30 in Tabriz by officers of the Ministry of Information Security and Intelligence of Iran, the Iranian media reported earlier.
The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Tabriz immediately sent a note to the Iranian Foreign Ministry in connection with the detention.
In the note submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan demanded immediate clarification of the details of the detained citizens and information about their location.