BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has responded to new insinuations of Spokesperson for Iranian MFA Nasser Kanaani regarding press briefing within the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov’s visit to Israel, Trend reports.
"We explained our position on allegations against Azerbaijan. Main question is why the Iranian side sticks to its systematic pattern of deviation from norm and rationality in judgment. This clearly is a biased approach. Who wants to know the truth can watch the briefing video," Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said in a tweet.
Previously, Hajizada made a statement resolutely condemning Kanaani's remarks.
"As it’s known, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov didn’t voice anything anti-Iranian during the joint press briefing with the Israeli Foreign Minister [Eli Cohen]. In this regard, we consider this statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry as another step against Azerbaijan,” he said.
According to Hajizada, Azerbaijan has never allowed its territory to be used against third states.
“On the contrary, recently threats against Azerbaijan have been voiced from the territory of Iran, along with certain provocations. The examples include the conduct of military exercises by Iran along the borders of Azerbaijan, military flights over the state border, anti-Azerbaijani statements by Iranian officials, filming and displaying videos with threats to Azerbaijan near the Khudaferin bridge, involving children, by Iranian security structures such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a terrorist attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran,” the spokesperson said.
According to Hajizada, the initial results of the investigation of the terrorist attack against the Azerbaijani MP Fazil Mustafa, also point to the Iranian trail.
“Today, Iranian-Armenian brotherhood is the main threat to the region. Over the past 30 years, Iran, in fact, by its tacit consent, turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia,” he noted.
It’s well known that Iran didn’t resent the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, didn’t prevent the sale of building stones from destroyed houses from plundered Azerbaijani districts in Iranian markets, nor protested the destruction and desecration of 65 out of 67 existing mosques [in previously occupied Azerbaijani territories], the spokesperson reminded.
“In connection with the above, we strongly condemn the statement of Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani. This statement is another step towards reducing the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations to a crisis,” Hajizada said.